Max Siollun, a renowned Nigerian historian, has stated that former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) wanted to spare General Mamman Vatsa from execution after the alleged coup plot of 1985.
In an interview with Edmund Obilo, Siollun said one of Babangida’s aide disclosed that Babangida asked him to search the Bible and Quran for passages about forgiveness, during the trial of Vatsa.
Siollun said Babangida’s fellow officers in the Armed Forces Ruling Council urged him not to show mercy to Vatsa and they even told him that, in line with laid down rules, anyone caught plotting coup against the government must face execution. He said in the end, Babangida had to give in to the demands of his military colleagues
In Siollun’s words: “There is also another Babangida aide, a civilian, who said that Babangida actually asked him to go to the Bible, to go to the Quran and find passages about mercy and clemency in those religious books. This is just before the execution, so very clearly Babangida was personally in favor of clemency but again he had to keep his own men happy”.
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