Former Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (rtd), has revealed how the late Biafran warlord Odumegwu Ojukwu disguised himself as a servant to escape the federal forces that wanted to arrest him during the civil war in the 1960s.

Babangida made the disclosure in his new book 'A Journey In Service', which he released this year.

An excerpt of the book was made public by former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, who found it fascinating.

Omokri wrote on Facebook, "One anecdote in General Babangida's book, 'A Journey In Service,' which I found most interesting, is his revelation that the Federal forces actually cornered Colonel Ojukwu on Tuesday, September 12, 1967, the day Enugu, the Biafran capital, fell."

According to General Babangida on page 70: "When federal and ground forces assaulted the city, Ojukwu was asleep in the State House. When he woke up to the sound of gunfire and explosions to find his guards gone, the building was surrounded by federal troops. Ojukwu was said to have disguised himself as a servant to escape the cordon!"

Reacting, Omokri wrote, "How come we are just hearing about this tidbit? This type of thing happens when we do not document our history.

"I must commend General Babangida for writing this book. It has increased my knowledge and understanding of Nigeria.

"On page 71, I had to stop and ponder a bit when President IBB revealed that Mamman Vatsa stood in for him and possibly aided in saving his life after a Biafran Ogbunigwe wounded him.

"Why did I pause? Because that same Vatsa was executed seventeen years later by the Babangida military government.

"One would have thought that because of this salvation, perhaps there could have been some clemency or at least a commutation of his death sentence to a more lenient life sentence. But alas...

"The poetic justice here is that Mamman Vatsa was at Enugu to rout out Ojukwu, yet Nigeria, as a country, pardoned Ojukwu on Tuesday, May 18, 1982, and executed Vatsa on Wednesday, March 5, 1986.

"Even more interesting is that the same Ojukwu, who was the beneficiary of a pardon on Monday, October 17, 1994, went on to make a public call on General Sani Abacha to execute Abiola.

"General Babangida received grace, but denied it to Vatsa.

"Ojukwu also benefited from grace, but did not want it accorded to Abiola.

"What a terrible twist of fate!"

ASA