By Nowa Omoigui, MD, MPH, FACC
In the Nigerian Army's official history of the Civil War, Major General IBM Haruna (rtd), said: "The dominance of the NPC and the perceived dominance of the North in the centre were like a threat to the presumed more enlightened and better educated Southerners who believed they were the backbone of the movement for Nigerian independence but did not succeed the colonial power to run the affairs of the state. So with that background one can now lay the foundation of the perception of the military struggle in Nigerian politics."
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Reflective, therefore, of certain repeatedly articulated viewpoints in sections of the Press, the opinion matured among a small budding caucus of already politically inclined officers after independence, that every military deployment for internal security in aid of the civil authority whose political orientation they did not share, even if constitutional, was just another provocation.
These include:
1. 'Operation Banker', a joint Army-Police operation in the Western region, led by then CO, 4th battalion, Lt. Col. Maimalari, allegedly at the behest of the pro-NPC regional Premier (Akintola) culminating in the declaration of a state of emergency in May 1962 after a fracas in the House of Assembly and the appointment of an administrator. Interestingly, the General Staff Officer
1. 'Operation Banker', a joint Army-Police operation in the Western region, led by then
CO, 4th battalion, Lt. Col. Maimalari, allegedly at the behest of the pro-NPC regional
Premier (Akintola) culminating in the declaration of a state of emergency in May 1962
after a fracas in the House of Assembly and the appointment of an administrator.
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