Former Under-Secretary in charge of the Nigerian Army in the First Republic, Dr. Wunmi Akintide, has made startling revelations about the Nigerian Civil War, alleging that federal troops at one point used cattle as protective shields against the feared Biafran Ogbunigwe bomb following devastating losses suffered on the battlefield.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on the programme 90MinutesAfrica, Akintide claimed that secret military records contained details of wartime events that have never been fully disclosed to the Nigerian public.
According to him, one of the most significant episodes was the Abagana Disaster, a major military setback suffered by federal forces under the command of Murtala Muhammed, during the civil war.
“I was privy to secret documents about the war,” Akintide said. “The official records contained what really happened, but the government will never let the public know.”
He stated that the effectiveness of the Ogbunigwe bomb, an improvised explosive weapon developed by Biafran forces, inflicted heavy casualties on advancing Nigerian troops. The weapon, he said, became so feared that military commanders adopted unconventional measures to reduce losses.
“There was a time that the Nigerian military was using cows to shield the soldiers against the dreaded Ogbunigwe bomb,” he stated. “The cows would go in front to detonate the bomb before the advancing soldiers followed.”
Akintide further claimed that the strategy resulted in the deaths of numerous cattle, some of which were subsequently consumed by Biafran soldiers.
The retired civil servant, who served as an undersecretary in the defense department during the war, maintained that official wartime records contained accounts of the incidents.
Beyond his comments on the civil war, Akintide reflected on the significance of June 12 in Nigeria’s democratic journey. He described the annulled 1993 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, as a turning point in the country’s political history.
According to him, June 12 shattered the long-held belief that only northern politicians could occupy Nigeria’s highest office.
“What June 12 actually signifies is that it broke the myth that only the northerners can produce the president in Nigeria,” he said, adding that Abiola became the sacrifice that helped establish the principle of power rotation between the north and south.
Akintide argued that the emergence of a Yoruba president decades later was made possible by the political legacy of June 12 and the struggle that followed the election’s annulment.
The historian also criticized President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day address, claiming it lacked sufficient direction on the country’s security challenges.
He expressed disagreement with the President’s assertion that terrorism has no ethnic identity, insisting that the perpetrators of violent attacks across parts of the country are known and should be identified and prosecuted regardless of their connections or influence.
He said Nigerians expected the government to present a clearer strategy for confronting insecurity and bringing those responsible for terrorism to justice.
