“Ironsi Would Have Been Alive If My Orders Were Obeyed” — Gowon Makes Shocking Revelation
Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has revealed dramatic new details surrounding the assassination of General J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi during the July 1966 counter-coup.
Speaking during the launch of his autobiography My Life of Duty and Allegiance in Abuja, Gowon claimed he made urgent efforts to save Ironsi after learning that a mutiny had broken out in Abeokuta.
According to Gowon, he quickly ordered Major Paul Dickson, who was in charge of the Ikeja airport, to send a helicopter to evacuate Ironsi from Ibadan to Lagos for safety.
“At once, he responded: ‘Yes, Sir,’” Gowon recalled.
But things allegedly took a tragic turn afterward.
Gowon claimed the major later turned out to be sympathetic to the coup plotters and never carried out the evacuation plan that could have saved Ironsi’s life.
He also revealed that by the time he tried contacting Government House in Ibadan, mutineers had already surrounded the area and Ironsi, alongside then Western Region governor Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, had reportedly been taken away.
The former Head of State said many northern officers at the time were still angry over the January 1966 coup and emotions within the military were dangerously high.
These latest revelations are reigniting intense conversations online about one of the most painful and controversial chapters in Nigeria’s history.