Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has recounted the harrowing experience when soldiers raided his family home to abduct his late father during the 1966 coup.
“My mother came into the bedroom which I shared with my older brother and younger sister. The lights had been cut off by the mutineers so we were in complete darkness and all we could see and hear were the headlights of about four heavy trucks.
“The occupants of the lorries, who were uniformed men who carried torches, positioned themselves and prepared to storm our home whilst calling my fathers name and ordering him to come out”, he said.
According to the former minister, the minute he stepped out, they beat him, tied him up and threw him into one of the lorries before storming their house.
“They were very brutal and frightful and we were terrified. They ransacked every nook and cranny, shooting into the ceiling and wardrobes.
“My mother was screaming and crying from the balcony because all she could do was focus on her husband who was in the back of the truck downstairs”.
He said his mother then started screaming “Don’t kill him, don’t kill him!!” the whole house in total chaos.
Fani-Kayode said he was standing in the middle of a passage upstairs surrounded by uniformed men who were ransacking the whole place and terrorising his family.
“All of a sudden one of the soldiers came up to me, put his hand on my head and said: “Don’t worry, we won’t kill your father, stop crying”, he said.
He continued: “After he said it the third time, I looked in his eyes and I stopped crying.
“This was because he gave me hope and he spoke with kindness and compassion. At that point all the fear and trepidation left me.
“With new-found confidence, I went rushing to my mother who was still screaming on the balcony and told her to stop crying because the soldier had promised that they would not kill my father and that everything would be okay”.
Fani-Kayode, who identified the soldier as Captain Nwobosi, recalled, “I clung to those words that morning, and despite everything happening around me, I didn’t shed a tear after that.”
He expressed his belief that God had sent the soldier with a divine message, as his father was eventually released.
“If my father was killed, maybe I would not have been educated and be where I am today”, he stated.
He prayed for the souls of all those who were killed in the incident and asked God to restore Nigeria to greatness.