By Bayo Davids
Former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon has revealed the pain his younger brothers, Moses and Isaiah Gowon went through following the February 13, 1976 coup that took the life of the then Head of State, Gen. Murtala Mohammed.
Gowon who succeeded Gen Aguiyi Ironsi in 1966 was overthrown in a bloodless coup while attending the 12th Summit of the Organisation of African Unity now the African Union.
His previous confrontations with his junior colleague Murtala led to claims in some quarters that Gowon knew a thing or two about the coup that terminated the life of the no-nonsense Kano-born military tactician.
In a trip down memory lane in his recently- unveiled autobiography, “My Life of Duty and Allegiance,” Gowon writes of Moses, “He trained as a pilot at Uterson, Germany. He later served as Captain of the Presidential Fleet of Nigeria’s former President, General Ibrahim Babangida. His military career ended when he was pushed out of service after the unsuccessful February 13, 1976 military coup led by Lt.Col. Bukar Suka Dimka. His was a classic case of the victimisation of anyone remotely connected to me. He was in solitary confinement for seven months before his release.”
Moses was not alone in the horror visited on the Gowon’s family as the ex-Head of State recounts on page 46-47.
“Isaiah was the youngest in the family. The Army was his first love. He always loved being a soldier and he was, indeed, a soldier’s soldier whose loyalty was to the country and to the Army.
“He was prematurely retired in the rank of a Captain just because he was my brother. But for his forced retirement, he could have risen as high as a Brigadier , if not a Major General or General as many of his course mates did before they retired from service.
“He was arrested in the aftermath of the February 13, 1976 coup just because he was related to me. The new regime went all out for his scalp because they wanted to get me at all cost. He twice faced a military tribunal before he was jailed for 15 years. He spent nearly six years in prison before his release and retirement,” the book reads in part.