Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Late General Victor Malu was the Chairman of the seven-man Special Military Tribunal (SMT), that tried General Oladipo Diya for alleged coup plot against the administration of Gen Sani Abacha in 1997 and sentenced him to death by firing squad.
Sundiata Post recalls that the seven-man Special Military Tribunal (SMT) was commissioned by General Sani Abacha to investigate roles played by soldiers and civilians in the coup plot to overthrow General Abacha’s regime.
The alleged plotters included former Deputy Head of State, Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya. Major General Tunji Olarewaju, Major General Abdulkareem Adisa, Daniel Akintonde, Edwin Jando, Peters Alinyode, Emmanuel Shode, Major Olusegun Fadipe, and Diya’s political advisor, professor Femi Odekunle.
The SMT charged General Oladipo Diya, five other soldiers and a civilian for treason. They were to be executed by firing squad. Among the accomplice, four were sentenced to life imprisonment and the remaining three to stand 2–14 years behind bar.
The eight top military officers led by former Deputy Head of State, Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya were arrested for plotting coup to topple the government of General Abacha. As a result of this scenario, the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) led by General Abacha commissioned a panel of a seven (7) military officers headed by General Malu.
The judgment of death sentences issued by the SMT headed by General Malu attracted reactions from within and outside the country. One of the reactions came from Adisa Bakare, father of General Abdulkareem who begged General Sani Abacha to spare the lives of his son and others. In a related development, the human right community led by National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) through Abraham Adesanya said “We are not convinced that they committed the offence for which they were found guilty,” added Adesanya. “Judging by the past record of this government, with regards to Ken Saro Wiwa and others, it is a waste of time to plead. But God is higher than everybody.”
Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria appealed to the government to spear the life of the convicts”.
Late Malu was also the Force Commander of the ECOMOG peace-keeping force in Liberia between 1996 and 1998. He said the feat recorded by Nigerian Military in the peace-keeping surprised the Americans despite the international sanctions the country was faced with at that time.
The deceased was Chief of Army Staff during the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s democratic regime between 1999 and 2001.
Another major watershed during his time as Army Chief was the Odi massacre on November 20, 1999 were every building in the town except the bank, the Anglican Church and the health center, was burnt to the ground by the military. The Environmental Rights Action put the death toll at nearly 2500 civilians.
Since what goes around comes around, two years later, but six months into Malu’s retirement, 19 soldiers sent to restore peace following an ethnic crisis in Zaki-Biam, a community in Malu’s state of Benue, were killed and abducted. While on a revenge mission, the entire area was cordoned off by soldiers, with armored tanks that were given air cover by helicopter gunboats.
At the end of that military action, at least 300 persons, including Malu’s relations had been killed. Pev Adoor, his blind octogenarian uncle and his wife, lost their lives. His houses were burnt.
From late Malu’s confession after going through memory lane on his odyssey as Army Chief, he only regret was not to have toppled the government of President Olesugun Obasanjo.