Page 320 - They Also Served

supplied weapons through West African proxies such as Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon. Therefore, when Nigeria launched a counter-offensive in August 1967, the Biafrans were pushed back. Almost immediately, Banjo and three other officers were arrested and accused of plotting against Ojukwu.
After a hastily arranged show trial, the four were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Banjo did not help his cause by his honesty and clarity during his defence: ‘I came into the war at a moment of temporary collapse of the Biafran fighting effort, when it became clear to me that the fighting effort of the Biafran Army was being incompetently handled. Since then, it has been my fortune to command the Biafran troops on their successful exploits’. This damning indictment of Ojukwu’s efforts was later supported by his chaotic control of Biafran forces in a civil war characterised by genocide, famine and, ultimately, total defeat.
Dragged to the square in Enugu City and tied to poles, the four officers were executed by a firing squad of Biafran soldiers. Although shot several times, Banjo defiantly taunted the soldiers until the end, yelling, ‘I’m not dead yet!’
314