Fifty-three years ago, 29 July 1966 to be precise, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi (Iron Side for style), Head of State and Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of Western Region, were, in a coup d’etat, abducted and assassinated by soldiers in Ibadan where the two were holding a meeting with traditional rulers.

General Theophilus Danjuma, who had earlier been in the entourage of the Nigerian leader from Lagos, was the one who went in to arrest the Supreme Commander and his host.

As Danjuma was bringing Ironsi out of the Government House building, a soldier asked that his crocodile rod be seized because it was believed it had supernatural powers. It was held with same awe the Egyptians and Hebrews held the staff of Moses, which could swallow Pharaoh’s snakes, turn River Nile into blood and part the Red Sea!

Instead of the swagger stick, used by military brass hats to complement their dressing, Ironsi carried a crocodile staff. The soldier warned that Ironsi would disappear and their mission would be aborted. In Africa, the king’s scimitar was (and still is) believed to have magical potency that can mesmerize assailants. That was the same myth that many, including the rank and file of the Nigerian military, had that time. With that, the Ironsi mystique loomed larger even among the “bloody civilians.”

Then how did this lead to Danjuma, who had been calling the shots when the mutiny started, lose control of the command? He explained thus:

“Yes, I was arresting. He (Fajuyi) pleaded with me not to go up with armed men; that he was going to go up and call him (Ironsi) provided I guaranteed his safety. I gave him my guarantee: I said, ‘I guarantee your safety.’ He went there and didn’t come down. So, I decided to climb up. As I climbed up the steps, armed soldiers followed me. I had a grenade in my hand. I didn’t have any arm. As I came, lronsi was seated; Fajuyi was by his side. I said, ‘Sir, you are under arrest.’ And I gave him the order to stand up. Reluctantly, Ironsi stood up. He used to carry a staff crocodile. He had it in his hand. They both came down. Fajuyi was still asking me about guaranteeing safety. I guaranteed his safety absolutely. So, we came out of the building down toward the car.

“One of the soldiers said we shouldn’t allow him to carry his crocodile (stick)that there’s juju. I said no; there’s nothing in it. He said he’d disappear if we allowed him to carry it. He started to stop and I told him to shut up. That was the time I lost control. The soldier batoned me and pushed me aside and took charge. To my greatest surprise, the Adjutant, who was, you know, these were his troops – I was a stranger, they were obeying me because everything I did they liked; they liked what I was doing, but the moment I told them not to do something they didn’t like, they rejected – I expected the Adjutant, who was there, to intervene. He probably incited them. He said, ‘Yes, the soldier is right. This thing here (Ironsi’s crocodile) is his Zasa; it’s juju that will make him disappear.’

“So, they took the thing from him, pushed me aside and bundled him and Fajuyi in a vehicle and drove away. It was six o’clock in the morning. The front of the Government House was littered with people without shoes; people who had come to get ready to go. They asked every one of them to sit on the floor and they removed their shoes. They all sat, including then-Head of Service (Chief P Odumosu). I came down. They (soldiers) drove away. There was nobody to tell these people to go; so they all sat there. It was I who said, ‘What are you people still doing here?.’ Quietly, they realized they were free to go”.