Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that General Murtala Muhammed, who was the head of state at the time, might not have been killed if the government had taken security seriously.
He said that the death of the former military leader showed how unsafe the government was at the time.
Obasanjo, who took over for Murtala after the failed coup on February 13, 1976, said this in an interview with News Central TV.
He said that the relaxed security around Murtala was because of what he called “naivety.”
Obasanjo said that Murtala was a brave and sure leader who thought he was doing the right thing for Nigeria, so he had nothing to fear.
Obasanjo, on the other hand, said that belief was a costly error.
He remembered that Murtala drove himself around Lagos as military Head of State without worrying too much about his own safety.
Obasanjo said he had told Murtala how dangerous it was to be exposed like that, but the late leader did not take it seriously.
Obasanjo said, “If we hadn’t been so naive, Murtala wouldn’t have been killed the way he was.”
He also said that the leaders at the time thought that no one would go against them because they were working for the good of the country.
We thought he was doing the right thing. What did we have to be afraid of? Obasanjo said this.
The ex-president said that the government didn’t expect the level of conspiracy that later happened. He said that the coup plotters took advantage of the relaxed attitude toward security.
During a failed coup by soldiers who didn’t like Murtala’s government, he was killed in Lagos. His death brought an end to a government that had promised big changes and a move to civilian rule.
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