Former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon has revealed in his newly launched autobiography that his trusted security aide and Commander of the Federal Guards Unit, Joseph Garba, orchestrated his overthrow in the July 1975 military coup despite vehemently denying any involvement days prior.
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd), has stated that his trusted security aide, Joseph Garba, whom he personally appointed to protect his life as Commander of the Federal Guards Unit, actively contributed to his overthrow in the July 1975 coup. In his newly launched 859-page autobiography, titled My Life of Duty and Allegiance, Gowon described the historical putsch as the deepest personal betrayal of his public life because it was executed by close military subordinates he had elevated on the basis of trust and, in Garba’s case, shared family ties. According to the former Nigerian leader, Garba had explicitly sworn before him just days before the coup that he had absolutely no knowledge of any underground plot against his military government, a denial that ultimately allowed the conspirators to successfully finalize their operations.
The text provides a detailed timeline of how the administration’s internal security network tried to avert the treasonous plot before Gowon departed Nigeria to attend an international engagement. The former Head of State recounted how his Chief Security Officer and head of the Special Branch, M.D. Yusuf, warned him that some disgruntled officers were planning a coup ahead of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Kampala, Uganda. Yusuf explicitly identified two key figures spearheading the rebellion: Garba, who was then Commander of the Federal Guards Unit, and Anthony Ochefu, the Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Military Police. Gowon stressed that the intelligence report had placed him in an acute dilemma, particularly because he had deliberately appointed Garba to the most sensitive position in his national security architecture—the elite unit whose singular mandate was the physical protection of the Head of State.
Gowon further pointed out that Garba’s appointment to lead the Brigade of Guards was heavily influenced by their close family connection, alongside the deep personal confidence he had developed in the officer’s professional capabilities over several years. Reflecting on the profound misplaced trust that enabled his ouster from power, the former leader noted the regional and religious background that made the betrayal particularly painful to process. He stated: “As commander of the Federal Guards, which is the elite entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the person of the Head of State, Garba was supposed to have unquestionable loyalty. Not only did I intimately know both men, but I had also grown to like and trust them over the years. Coincidentally, both were Christians and from my original home state, Benue Plateau.”
READ THE FULL STORY IN DAILY POST
NEWS NOW:
