Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, was declared a wanted person by the military government following the failed February 13, 1976 coup that claimed the life of then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.
Nearly six years later, President Shehu Shagari rescinded the declaration, clearing the way for Gowon to return to Nigeria.
The episode remains one of the more dramatic chapters in Nigeria’s military and political history.
The 1976 coup
On February 13, 1976, a group of military officers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Buka Suka Dimka attempted to overthrow the government of Murtala Mohammed.
The coup failed, but Mohammed was assassinated during the attempt in Lagos. His deputy, Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo, succeeded him as Head of State and the government subsequently launched investigations into the plot.
Gowon, who had been overthrown in a military coup in July 1975 and was then living in Britain, became entangled in the investigation.
According to records from the period, the military government alleged that Gowon had knowledge of, or was connected with, the coup plot. In May 1976, Obasanjo announced that Gowon had been dismissed from the Nigerian Army and would be treated as a wanted person if he returned to Nigeria to face the allegations. The British government had also declined Nigeria’s request to facilitate his return.
Gowon consistently denied involvement in the coup.
Importantly, he was not tried and convicted in a Nigerian court for participating in the February 1976 coup. The military government had said he should return to Nigeria to face the allegations rather than being tried in absentia.
Shagari reviews Gowon’s case
When Shehu Shagari became Nigeria’s first elected president of the Second Republic in October 1979, Gowon’s status remained unresolved.
Historical accounts indicate that Gowon made representations to the new government through his lawyers and also personally appealed to Shagari for a review of his case.
According to an account preserved in the Nigerian National Library’s digital repository, Shagari subsequently studied the available reports concerning the 1976 coup and consulted members of the military establishment before deciding on Gowon’s case. The account says Shagari concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Gowon knew of, or approved, the coup.
Shagari’s Independence Day announcement
On October 1, 1981, during his broadcast marking Nigeria’s 21st Independence Anniversary, Shagari announced that he had reviewed the cases of people convicted or wanted in connection with the February 1976 events.
He placed those involved into three categories: those convicted and sentenced, participants who had fled after the coup, and a person suspected of having been remotely involved in the design of the plot.
Shagari then specifically addressed Gowon.
“Yakubu Gowon was declared a wanted person after the sad event of February 1976,” Shagari said.
He announced that he had ordered the declaration to be rescinded and that Gowon was free to visit or return to Nigeria if he wished.
The announcement was widely reported at the time. The October 2, 1981 edition of The Nigerian Tide, preserved by the Nigerian National Library, reported the development as Gowon being cleared and described the announcement as part of the Independence anniversary clemency measures.
Not technically a court pardon
Although the development is often described as Shagari “pardoning” Gowon, historical accounts point out an important legal distinction.
Gowon had not been convicted and sentenced by a court for the 1976 coup. Shagari therefore rescinded the executive declaration that had made him a wanted person and removed the restriction preventing him from returning to Nigeria.
Gowon did not immediately return. He eventually came back to Nigeria in December 1983, more than two years after Shagari’s announcement.
The episode later took another turn when General Ibrahim Babangida restored Gowon’s military rank and associated benefits in 1987.
Decades later, Gowon himself recalled the difficult period, saying he had been charged with treason and that Shagari subsequently rescinded the order against him.
The story of Gowon’s fall from former Head of State to a wanted man and his eventual clearance under a civilian president remains a striking example of how Nigeria’s military and political transitions shaped the fate of its former leaders.
Credit: Ethnic African historical
