Obi Emelonye: IBB told me his most difficult decision as soldier was to order killing of Mamman Vatsa

Obi Emelonye, the filmmaker, has shared a revealing conversation he had with Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), former Nigerian head of state.

In a recent episode of WithChude, Obi said while working on his film ‘Badamasi: Portrait of a General’, a biopic about IBB, the former military ruler told him the toughest decision he made as a soldier during a meeting.

According to him, Babangida disclosed that one of his most difficult decisions as a soldier was ordering the execution of his childhood friend Mamman Vatsa.

“I asked Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida about Mamman Vatsa’s story and his answer was that Mamman Vatsa was his classmate at Bida Secondary School and also his coursemate at the Nigerian defense school. So, they were very close and they rose through the ranks after the [civil] war,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, after his accident when he was shot at the Nigerian civil war in Umuahia, it was Mamman Vatsa who took over his command when he was in hospital…

“They have been close from that time and when IBB became president, he made Mamman Vatsa the FCT Minister. That showed trust and compensation for his loyalty.”

The filmmaker said, however, things took a drastic turn when Vatsa was implicated in a coup plot against Babangida.

“But in military politics, if you hear about a coup and you don’t report it, you are as guilty as the people who planned it,” he said.

“So, there was a coup plan against IBB where they did not just want to kill him in Dodan Barracks but also burn down the barracks with his family. Mamman Vatsa caught wind of it and he didn’t tell his friend. He wasn’t part of the planning but the tribunal found him guilty.”

He said Babangida told him he was torn between his loyalty to his friend and his duty to uphold military tradition.

“The case now became, is Babangida going to put friendship above military tradition and what precedence does that set with his other close friends? He was conflicted. He said ordering the killing of his friend was the most difficult thing he had to do as a soldier. But he had to do it because if anybody betrayed anybody, it was Vatsa who betrayed him,” he added.

“I also met with Mamman Vatsa’s family, they shared with me their frustrations and I gave them this perspective also. Anybody can say for sure if Mamman Vatsa did not know about the coup because that was the basis upon which he was convicted.”

Vatsa was executed on March 5, 1986.