1966 Coup: Driver Reveals Fresh Details Of How Ahmadu Bello Was Killed
Sarkin-Mota, the driver of Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto who was killed during the January 15 1966 coup has recounted how he tried to save his life but failed.
.Leadership reports that the now 89 year old man recalled that when the soldiers gained access into the house of Sardauna, he pretended not to understand English.
He said unknown to them, the soldiers had killed the policemen maintaining security in the house. He said he was asked to tell them where the Sardauana was. When he refused, they left nd searched the house.
He said: “They were three of them, and one of them told me that they were giving me five minutes to tell them where the Premier was or they would kill me. I told them they could go ahead and kill me because I was ready to die. They left me and started searching for him all over the house but they did not see him.
“Then they went to his wives’ quarters and chased them out of their rooms. As soon as the premier’s wives joined my wife in our own quarters, they (soldiers) began shooting. They came back, followed me to my room, broke the door to the room and smashed the window, thinking the premier was hiding in my room. They bent down and removed the mattress in my room. Helpless and frustrated, the soldiers were just shooting sporadically while at the same time, the premier’s wives were shouting and wailing.
“One of them, Inno, was just reciting ‘inna illahi’ (Islamic prayers). All of a sudden, one of his wives saw him (Sardauna) in jallabiya (long gown) without a cap. When she gave him a wrapper to disguise himself and quickly run away, he refused, telling her that ‘what they were looking for is here’. I moved to where the premier was standing and I held his hands. My intention was to take him to my room but the sound of a gunshot fired at our direction separated the two of us.
“They cut off the electricity in the house. Inno, his wife, again saw him and she ran towards him. The soldiers followed her; one of them shouted: ‘where is Ahmadu Bello?’ And the premier responded, ‘I am here!’ He was standing just close to the toilet and one of his wives, Hafsatu, held him tight. One of the soldiers asked her to leave him and run for her life, but she refused, telling the soldiers boldly that she preferred to die with her husband.
“Without wasting time, they shot and killed the two of them. This was at about 4am on January 15, 1966. Immediately it happened, I fainted. It took one month before I could regain my memory.
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