For the first time, the true account of how Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the man who on January 15, 1966 led Nigeria’s first military coup, eventually died during the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-70.

In a revealing interview published this morning by Sunday Sun, Nzeogwu’s younger sister, Mrs. Susan Uwechie, narrated how her brother was betrayed at the battle front by a fellow Biafran soldier and how he chose to commit suicide at the Nsukka war front in present-day Enugu State rather than being captured alive and humiliated by Nigerian troops.

“He was with his soldiers. He was not gunned down like that. The Nigerian soldiers had been pushed back by them. He knew that they were particularly looking for him. So, he was running for his dear life,” Mrs. Uwechie said.

“He was trying to escape before they caught him?” the interviewer asked.

Her answer: No, he wasn’t trying to escape. Well, he tried to….. He was trying to escape to join those people because they were soldiers too. Part of them was Nigerian soldiers.

Interviewer: Was he with the Nigerian soldiers or Biafran soldiers?

Mrs. Uwechie: Ehmm… it was when the war was serious. Where he was, he had to belong to the people there. Common sense dictated that.

Interviewer: That means he was caught on the Biafran side?

Mrs. Uwechie: Yes.

Interviewer: Since his death . . . I mean when he was gunned down.

Mrs. Uwechie: (Cuts in) He was not gunned down.

Interviewer: But some historical accounts say he was shot? How did he die?

Mrs. Uwechie: You see, during the war, he knew that all the soldiers that they caught died a gruesome death. They used to tie their neck with a rope to a vehicle and drove along with their heads hitting the road until they died. So, my brother said no, I won’t die like that. They won’t kill me like that. Before they kill me, I will do something. So, according to the story I heard within our family circle, you know he was trained in the war school in India? Nigeria trained him. Even when they went to Congo for peacekeeping operations, he was the one who led the troops. So, he felt that if they got hold of him, his own death will be the worst ever. They will cut off his hand first. Cut off some body parts and subject him to a slow and painful death. So, he said no. I won’t die like that. I won’t give them the opportunity to humiliate me. Then . . . (pause) I am not supposed to be telling you all these.

Interviewer: No, go ahead ma. He is long gone.

Mrs. Uwechie: So, I learnt that he used injection. He was a trained soldier. He injected himself. After injecting himself, he threw a grenade. By then, the Nigerian soldiers were around. They had sold him away to Nigerian soldiers. He was together with Emmanuel Ifeajuna, his colleague. He betrayed him and sold him to the Nigerian soldiers. He slipped away and told them that ‘that person that is holding the war, I just left him there. Go there, and you will meet him’ and really they saw him, and he knew it was time to go. Immediately they came near, he did that thing. He injected himself and released a grenade. All those soldiers died with him. He died a great soldier.

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