Retired Colonel Babatunde Bello-Fadile, Nigeria’s first military lawyer, has shared a dramatic episode from his military career involving former President Muhammadu Buhari. In his recently published memoir, Nine Lives: The Bello-Fadile Memoirs, the retired colonel described a confrontation with Buhari, who was then a senior military officer, over a contentious letter written in 1981.
At the time of the incident, Buhari served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Infantry Division in Ibadan, Oyo State. Bello-Fadile recounted that the disagreement stemmed from a letter he wrote concerning the treatment of officers who had been found guilty in a general court-martial.
According to Bello-Fadile, the court-martial’s proceedings were reviewed, with recommendations sent to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi, for final approval. During this process, petitions from officers held in the guardroom were forwarded for review. In his response, Bello-Fadile, acting in his capacity as a military lawyer, requested that the records be sent to higher authorities and that the detained officers be relocated to a more dignified setting, the Officers’ Mess.
However, the retired colonel’s letter used a comparison that caused tension. He described the treatment of the detained officers as akin to being in “Germany’s gestapo custody,” which reportedly angered Buhari. When Bello-Fadile was summoned to explain the letter, Buhari, visibly upset, allegedly told Wushishi’s assistant, “Is this the captain? Either I leave the army, or he will leave the army.”
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Bello-Fadile withdrew his letter and apologized for the “gestapo” remark, managing to defuse the conflict. He described this incident as his first encounter with Buhari, which ended without severe consequences.
Years later, when Buhari became the head of state, Bello-Fadile sensed that the animosity from their earlier encounter lingered. To avoid further conflict, he relocated from Lagos to Kaduna to pursue a PhD in international law, keeping his distance from the then military leader’s sphere of influence.
This account, as revealed in Bello-Fadile’s memoir, highlights the complexities of military politics in Nigeria’s history and offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by those navigating the armed forces during a turbulent period.
