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President Muhammadu Buhari narrowly escaped death by a few inches during the civil war that claimed approximately 620,000 soldiers, his authorised biographer has revealed.
In the book, Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, John Paden,
John Paden, a former Professor of Public Administration at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, recounted how Buhari, the young officer, who commanded a brigade during the war that lasted from 1967-1970, narrowly escaped death, in the book, Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria.
Paden wrote: “Buhari was among the first of the junior officers to be sent into battle. He served until the end of the war. Buhari fought at Awka, and later commanded a brigade at Makurdi. He also had to defend areas between Enugu and Abakaliki. He learned to distinguish the types of weapons being fired at his men by the sounds of the gunfire.
“On one occasion, while marching with his men toward Ogoja, Buhari ran into a group of rebels, and the federal soldiers suffered serious casualties. On another occasion, a rebel sniper killed someone standing next to Buhari."
Throughout the war, Paden wrote, “Buhari made it clear to his men that they were not fighting the Igbos. Indeed, some of the men in his battalion and even some of his superior officers were Igbos.”
Buhari insisted that they were fighting “the rebels” and believed that the war could have gone either way but Nigeria was lucky, according to Paden.
In the book, Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, John Paden,
John Paden, a former Professor of Public Administration at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, recounted how Buhari, the young officer, who commanded a brigade during the war that lasted from 1967-1970, narrowly escaped death, in the book, Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria.
Paden wrote: “Buhari was among the first of the junior officers to be sent into battle. He served until the end of the war. Buhari fought at Awka, and later commanded a brigade at Makurdi. He also had to defend areas between Enugu and Abakaliki. He learned to distinguish the types of weapons being fired at his men by the sounds of the gunfire.
“On one occasion, while marching with his men toward Ogoja, Buhari ran into a group of rebels, and the federal soldiers suffered serious casualties. On another occasion, a rebel sniper killed someone standing next to Buhari."
Throughout the war, Paden wrote, “Buhari made it clear to his men that they were not fighting the Igbos. Indeed, some of the men in his battalion and even some of his superior officers were Igbos.”
Buhari insisted that they were fighting “the rebels” and believed that the war could have gone either way but Nigeria was lucky, according to Paden.
