Patrick Anum

Search "witness to atrocities" on playstore to download the ICON recommended app on android -where you can document all genocides in Nigerias Middle Belt

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Those people who burnt your house were not Boko Haram, they were Fulani militias

Not every militia group is Boko Haram

Most of the groups attacking the Middle Belt are of Fulani origin, Boko Haram consists of mostly Kanuris

I lived in Plateau during this period and witnessed this first hand and can attest to the truth in this

Militias mostly of Fulani origin came into the city on September 7, 2001 and went house to house burning and pillaging.

What initially begun as disagreements over political appointment, saw an influx of Fulani fighters into streets of Jos North

I saw these militias with my eyes as they wore partial military regalia
Some would wear the military trouser and just an ordinary shirt, while others would wear the military top but just a normal trouser

That was my first time seeing non state actors on the rampage
They targeted native houses in Jos North which had a considerable settler population in a bid to drive the natives out of the local government

Lots of University of Jos staff who used to live in a predominant settlement of Angwan Rogo (along Bauchi Road) were murdered while a few others were lucky to have fled

Those people went on a rampage for almost 2weeks without adequate security intervention. Dead bodies littered the streets.
A state of emergency was declared in Plateau for 6 months while the Governor was sacked replaced with a military administrator (Chris Ali) by the Obasanjo administration.
The Obasanjo government also desolved the Plateau state legislature at the time due to those events

It was an unforgettable experience because September 11 happened a few days after which is a historic event

Why we knew it was tactical to displace the natives was that, there were no attacks on governmental residential areas that housed Southerners and other natives
The target was displacement of natives who owned private houses and lands

It was so bad that what initially begun in Jos North soon spread to other local governments where there were settlers

The worst happened in Wase, Shendam and Lantang
I have posted numerous times about the proliferation of arms in the lower plateau during the period by these Fulani militias

What was initially ethnic between the natives of Plateau and the Hausa and Fulani settlers turned religious as these settlers demanded that the native Muslims choose a side and used religion to blackmail native Muslims (by asking them to prove that their new faith is more important than their old tribal loyalties)

[@𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 @OneJoblessBoy]

“Boko Haram burnt our house down to the ground and we were in the house…”

-Susan Pwajok

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

I went to read your response again to see if I would change my opinion but after reading through it, I still maintain my position

It is beneath me to engage posts like those

I can disagree with people intellectually, that has never been a problem for me but it has to be first topic focused and second reference based

You are free to engage others who banter with serious issues and FYI I really don’t care if you think I am biased or not.

Have a nice day ahead

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@AtyAdejo @MikeArnoldTruth I do not really like unintellectual discourse

And I think it is beginning to become banter from your perspective so I believe the conversation should end here

Have a good day

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

First of all, I did not claim anything.

Ademoyega wrote about it in his book on how Ojukwu and Ironsi knew about the coup, while Hilary Njoku wrote about Ironsis knowledge of the coup and decided to take the approach of “if you boys succeeed we will support you”

They arent my words.

It means that they acted against it because they may have observed that it has no genuine chance of success and not because there was not foreknowledge.

They failed to report it and it is clear that they had no direct encounter with the coupists (Hilary Njoku and Ojukwu which is no coincidence)

As for Ironsi, Ben Gbulie, one of the plotters in his book 5 majors mentioned how Oji and Okafor opposed any attempts to eliminate Ironsi.

Ironically, do you know the people charged with the responsibility of elimin Ironsi? The same Captain Oji.

You can’t make this up.

Obasanjo and Philip Effiong in both their books mentioned how Ironsi met Oji on the bridge and they exchanged words in their native language and allowed Ironsi continue on his way.

These are not my words.

Now pertaining to Ironsi, according to Gowon in his book, Biography of a Solider Statesman written in 1986 by Isawa Elaigwu, Gowon said that Ironsi had given an order that would take 2 hours before the first unit would get into town.

It was then that Gowon left Ironsi to stop the coup, he explained that he didn’t understand why the coup would begin by 3:00am, but it should take two more hours according to Ironsis orders before the rebels would be tracked down, so he said we can’t be giving them two more additional hours from the two they have already, so he first went to Balewas house, the the Broadcasting house and then the officers mess. This was while Ironsi was still in the barracks

Gowons troops also secured the parliamentary building too

While Ironsi was still in the barracks, that is when according to David Ejoor, he saw Ironsi and Ironsi shocked to still see him alive, pointed a pistol at him saying, “David, are you for me or against me”

Also according to Hilary Njoku, Ironsi la hands were shaking, he kept repeating that “the coup plotters said they won’t kill anyone signaling that he knew beforehand”

According to Njoku, Gowon never forgave him for knowing about the plot and not disclosing it to him.

So the issue is why the plotters felt comfortable to disclose to Ironsi, Ojukwu and Hilary Njoku but not to other officers from other extractions like for instance David Ejoor who was from the Midwest, or Col Pam who they eliminated from the Middle Belt

As for the Awolowo claim, it is not to be taken seriously because it began an entire year after the coup and was never mentioned by any of the plotters who granted several interviews for a whole year.
Even the interrogations of over 80 suspects never provided any real data on it.

Similarly, the conversation of it began after the Eastern regional government produced a document alleging to it after which Ifeajuna, Nzeogwu and Gbulie supported it

So the question is why no Yoruba officer spoke about it. Ademoyega spoke of them ruling and creating states and the ideology of their government but never of that, so it is not credible.

As for the execution of the plot if we are to go by the Eastern plotters accounts to release Awolowo, no major was assigned to completing this important task, just two non combat officers who eventually did not even go there.

For it to be believable, there has to be more evidence in support of it

As for Unegbe, Alexandar Madiebo said the plotters had personal grouses with the people eliminated, asides that, I have no real opinion on Unegbe

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

This is going to be the most controversial post I have ever made

But the Middle Belt has nothing to apologize for.

I used to be like one of these Middle Belt groups, apologizing for an event I had not studied in detail, till I read extensively about the events of January 15, 1966 leading right up to the end of the Nigerian Civil War.

In my opinion, I could see legitimately the reason for the counter coup.

If I was Mwadkon Pam, whose brother (Col Pam) was killed in cold blood by Major Anuforo, I would be seeking for revenge too and would also participate in a plot to revenge the death of my blood brother.

It has nothing to do with “Middle Belt” it is about my brother losing his life when others chose to shield their own brothers in a so called revolution.

In the five Majors by Ben Gbulie, Captains Oji and Don Okafor objected to the fact that Ironsi was going to be targeted and killed in the 1966 coup.

If I found out, I will be out for blood. Also, if I were the kinsman of Colonel Largema, who was shot in the head by Major Ifeajuna when he sleepily came out of his hotel room, to answer a phone call, I will be looking for revenge too.

I am a person who does not look for trouble. But if you look for my trouble, for the rest of your life, you have to be looking over your shoulder.

This has nothing to do with “Middle Belt”

If someone kills my brother and I retaliate, years down the line, people from other ethnicities who share boarder with mine will be required to apologize for my action?

The world doesn’t work that way.

Also reading about first hand accounts like David Ejoor (an Urhobo man) who was Military Governor during the Ironsi regime.
He sat in all the Military council meetings with Ironsi and was of the opinion that Ironsi never intended the try the plotters.

In his view, Ironsi wanted tensions to settle and he would release the plotters. This explains a lot in my opinion.

It explains why the plotters were transferred to the East where they continued to receive their salaries. It also explains why reading the accounts of Joe Garba and TY Danjuma, they were still visibly angry at the continued stalling of Ironsi to try the plotters

But what angers me the most, is reading the books by Adewale Ademoyega who mentions that Ojukwu and Hilary Njoku had known about the plot prior, because they, the plotters had told them.
They however opted for the position of, “if you boys succeed, we will go with you”

Also, Hilary Njoku also exposes Ironsi in his book, Tragedy without Hero’s, about knowing about the plot where he says that Ironsi was shaking after hearing about the killings,
he grabs his cup and keeps repeating “but they said they will not kill anyone”

This also meant that he knew about the plot before hand and failed to report it.

If I were Mwadkon Pam, TY Danjuma, Joe Garba, Dimka and any of the Middle Belt Soldiers, and I discovered that no military operations happened in Enugu & Benin where the Premiers were also Igbo, but happened everywhere else. I will also visibly upset and be involved in the counter coup.

And after reading about the reactions of many of soldiers from other ethnicities, it is a human thing. It has nothing to do with the region they were from.

My feelings of anger even increased when reading how the Governor of the Eastern Region, Mr Francis Ibiam (not to be confused with Premier of the East MI Okpara) reacted angrily to David Ejoor arresting a plotter. The moment he met David Ejoor, he warned him that nothing should happen to the plotter.
One only wonders why he would be upset that a plotter was arrested by a commanding officer.

Not to mention many books, like in Page 100 of Obasanjos book My Command and in Ojukwus number two, Philip Effiong also confirmed that mentioned Ironsi exchanging words with the plotters in their language (particularly Captain Oji) in Page 24 of my Story.

So Middle Belt people are supposed to apologize for a large plot to kill their people?

[Mike Arnold @MikeArnoldTruth]

Yes, Ndigbo – this is real, and it matters. And it is what the Caliphate fears most.

After more than 50 years, respected voices from Nigeria’s Middle Belt have publicly apologised to the Igbo nation for the region’s role in the 1967–1970 Biafran War.

In May 2021, a group of Middle Belt intellectuals, led by the late Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, released a powerful declaration:

“Ndigbo, we are on our knees, begging you to forgive us for the sins we have committed against you, against God and against Humanity. Please, forgive us our monumental follies of yesteryears… We foolishly served as the foot soldiers of the Caliphate… You are our Umunna across the Great River. We swear we shall never stand against you again.”

They openly admitted nearly a million Middle Belt lives were also lost, and that they had been deceived into fighting their Igbo brothers and sisters.Earlier, in 2020, the Middle Belt Youth Council issued a formal apology for the same reason.

In October 2024, another Middle Belt Youth Group released a video plea, repeating that they “were deceived” and asking for forgiveness.

These are not government statements – they come from ordinary leaders, scholars and youths who now reject the old lies that turned neighbors into enemies.

The war took some 3 million lives, mostly Igbo children. The pain is still fresh for many. The scars deep.

This is not everything, and some say it is not enough. But it is a genuine, public act of remorse from the very people who fought on the other side.

Many Igbo have never heard these words.

Now you have.

Healing can only begin when truth is spoken and heard.

#EarthShaker

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@bigba_s Do you mean the Hausa and Igbo riots of 1945?

Maybe by the name you will get a hint on the participants of the riot

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Many of you have said worse than this.

You will have to come harder than this to get under my skin

I’m glad you guys are coming out with your full chest to express your opinions.

Please keep it coming

[Chibuike jude Okonkwo @okonkwo_ju24754]

It'll be good if everyone of you is killed and your communities wiped of the face of the earth

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@AScully789 Gbim

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@_mrsmalaprop They are mute when their people are roped in unaliving communities but quick to play the victim game

For a people scared of Rwanda, they love to hire killers to perform a Rwanda on innocent Nigerians

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Former Governor of Nasarawa State Abdullahi Adamu in a paper presented to the National Institute of Policy and Strategic studies (NIPSS)
Narrated an incident on how Fulani Ardos organized fundraising in order to hire mercenaries and militias for attacks in Southern Nasarawa on the Tiv ethnic group - particularly naming one Ardo Hakimi as the organizer of this fundraiser

Ardo Hakimi was later killed by the same mercenaries for attempting to underpay the fighters

Abdullahi Adamu has stated that Fulani Ardos are bottom line commanders in the militia movement
They act as guides during attacks and are expected to brief the higher echelons on the nature of disputes, location, terrains, logistics
The also mobilize miltia groups

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@Adamthallith How do you know all those Fulani boys are Muslims

There are so many traditionalist Fulani cattle herders

You don cast yourself

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

I am still reading about the events of that era

There is so much to read and sometimes I look and see others who haven’t even done half the reading and I shake my head

These conversations have been promoted not by academics but by conspiracy theorists which is troubling

Nigeria needs to get back to making conversations academic

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

You didn’t know the North was the problem when you were partnering with them for 15 straight years from 1951-1964?
lol

There was no time the Middle Belt group fought against our interests and fought for one North.

If they did, they would have supported Murtala in Araba and there would be no country called Nigeria today.

I doubt you can cite sources to make your argument academic on your postulations.

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@JBlurry10820 @OkonkwoPerez @MikeArnoldTruth lol is this another attempt to run away from the January coup? You are doing a horrible job at it by the way.

I think some of you need new material because this same tired old line about Fulanis is not working anymore

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Are you asking or are you telling because i don’t seem to get the question. There were numerous revolts in the old Northern region pre & post independence against Ahamdu Bello. if that’s what you are asking.

You can read about operation Nande for the one in the Tiv division of the Middle Belt post independence

Unfortunately, the NCNC and NPC had made an alliance to prevent a Middle Belt State and COR state, but split the Midwest from the Western region to weaken the West.

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Yes I said the plot was to kill Middle Belt people

Col Pam and Col Largema are Middle Belt people. Those along side others who were much more Junior from the region were also killed.

By large plot, the context is, the coup was to affect the regions, the army and the federal government. That is large in all aspects. The conspirators also numbered more than 80, not counting the junior officers who acted as executors of the plot knowingly or unknowingly.

What they complain about begun with the January 15, 1966 coup. We cannot skip it and go to the part that makes them perfect victims.

Nigerians begin conversations from the part that garners the most sympathy and absolves them of the most responsibility so I am not surprised.

If I were to begin Middle Belt history too and I was trying to behave like them, I would begin from the part that presents the Middle Belt as “complete victims”

Asking me the question that “has any of those alliances brought that much bloodshed” is a comedic argument

This is because it does not view history from a view of ripple events like we do, it views them in isolation of each other and seeks to compare damage.

For instance, I can analyze M.K.O Abiolas financial role and military alliances in toppling Shagari and elaborate on how that played a cascading role in the 3rd republic. That single action.

In the same way, I see how the Zik and Ahmadu Bello government, which colluded in declaring a state of emergency in the Western Region, refusal to create a COR region & Middle Belt state, played a role in feeding disgruntled feelings that led to the first coup

So without those series of terrible decisions, there would be no coup, no middle belt and Arewa soldier seeking revenge, no counter coup, no Aburi and no war.

So in my view, it was those decisions that caused that much bloodshed, the failure of the first republic due to decisions of Zik and Ahmadu Bello to form a government together which was a bad idea in hindsight

Even if I am to go a step further, your analogy ignores gnores the numerous attempts that J.S Tarka made at seeing Ironsi, at a point he was humiliated out of Ironsis office.

This is documented. middle Belters are killed, humiliated, and when they react,they are blamed for the after effects of such reactions, so where does accountability begin on the first domino that fell

Where does the first republic accountability begin?

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Well you are one to talk about intelligence, your people with all their intelligence, see where they are within the Nigerian federation.

What some of you do when you are unable to debate the past is bring up the present. It a fascinating sight to behold.

If you are intelligent, you will be able to speak on the issues I raised about the Jan 15 coup, instead of deviating to diatribes on Gowon and Middle Belt councils.

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

And likewise I have a question for you too.
Where was there a large plot by Middle Belters to kill Igbos?

There was none too. So asking me about one for Igbos on the Middle Belt seems irrelevant.

It is also a genuine question tbh because the counter coup was a plot to remove a particular government (Ironsis) and also to have revenge at said plotters - and not to eliminate a particular group

What later happened were riots and those were caused by a different set of circumstances and not by the counter coup.

They begun during the Ironsi regime. It begun in opposition to his unification decree, unification of the civil service and the placement of F. Nwokedi as the head of the institution.

Ironsi also came up with absurd policies like rotating military governors and traditional institutions (as if it were NYSC)

Not to talk of imposition of an Igbo person as head of ABU Zaria which led to protests by the students of the institution

The taunting, we must not forget the taunting for the first coup with chants that “goats are crying” is also another significant factor.

So we have to carefully examine these issues or we risk conflating them.

Have you read extensively about the riots. They were not coordinated plots.
It was chaos everywhere. Chaos is not a plot.

I want you to read Hassan Katarina’s accounts on events in Kano as a pointer.

If you have read extensively and those riots were plots, feel free to share. The Emir of Kano was chased when he tried to appeal to rioters. (A case in point)

In regarding how others should feel with regards to “Christianity”

History does not care about feelings.

Col Pam and Col Largema and the many Middle Belt officers who lost their lives in the first plot were Christian. The plotters did not have such considerations, so why should the counter coupists have it either.

Through out the first republic with the Igbo and Fulani partnerships in the 50s, there was no consideration of this so called “religious affinity”

When Zik fought against a Middle Belt State after it was agreed during the 1957 Premiers Conference, you believe he did not understand the religious dynamics at play at the time despite opting for a Fulani alliance?

The Christian card does not work here because we have about 15 years of history to look at and access if religion played a role in Nigerian politics between the East and Middle Belt

And from all indications, from 1951 - 1964, the East opted against religious collaboration with the Middle Belt (so in 2026, it will be absurd for a group to feel offended and bring it up when it was not a characteristic in first republic politics)

It will also be revisionist to imply there was and to blame a group for not having such considerations when the other side ignored it for the majority of the period.

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

We must start from the beginning.
History does not begin where you want it to begin.

It begins where the issue began and the first coup is where this started.

So who gets to apologize for the first coup

You said “rumors of repraisals”

So your people for certain were killed but the repraisals where Middle Belters were killed were rumors despite it being documented

Two sources here:
Crisis and Conflict by Kirk Greene
Former Governor General of Northern Nigeria - Bryan Sherwood, Always as Friends

Its okay

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

The Middle Belt has also no time in history called for the massacre of the entire Igbo population

Even the North has never done that.

What happened was riots and targeting of Igbos by the Arewa North. In various killings and counter killings, the middle belt became involved from casualties and affected persons.

Regarding the Fulani killings in our region, trust me, they are also not finding it funny in our lands. Go to their handles and see their tears too

They know what their eyes are seeing.

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

I don’t partake in online conspiracy theories.

In no time in Nigerian history were any group used as pawns.

All groups or individuals in Nigeria engage in policy or decisions from self interest

When Igbos collaborated with the North from 1951-1964, were they being used? Your answer will determine how we progress in this conversation

They weren’t used, they were championing the unitary system of government and that partner offered them the best benefits in a unitary system

Same here with the counter coup.

Mwadkon Pam and others participated in the counter coup because Igbo officers killed his brothers and Ironsi had refused to convict the coup plotters who were transferred to the East and continued to receive their salaries.

If my brother is killed, I will also revenge. That is human nature and nothing to do with being from any region

To even emphasize that these officers clearly knew what they were doing and abandoned the cause when it didn’t align with their interests,
the moment Murtala begun speaking of Araba, most Middle Belt soldiers abandoned that theology.

Their aim was revenge and they had gotten it. They did not support secession because they knew what it would mean for them being trapped with the North in a secessionist state.

I read extensively with references and I do not cite fiction.

You can find what I just told you in History of the Nigerian Army by Luckham Robin.

It had nothing to do with being used. Mwadkon wanted revenge and when the opportunity came, seized it.

I have read Walbe, TY Danjumas account and Joe Garbas accounts too.

Most Nigerians are not interested in history. They parrot just the basic stuff and leave it at that. You must have a passion for it to get really deep.

The theory of being used it not for historians or people who delve deep into history

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

@OkonkwoPerez @MikeArnoldTruth You have skipped to the counter coup and civil war

Let’s start from the beginning. Why did you spare your kinsmen and eliminate ours

[Patrick Anum @patrickanum]

Haha so I have a question, the present predicament of your people, am I to assume you are paying for the sins of the first republic, the Midwest invasion, the invasion of Ore and the atrocities that the Eastern minorities suffered in the hands of your fathers?

I guess if your logic applies to us, then yours applies to you as well.

The ironic thing is that everything you have said about us, applies to you

1. At a point your group were one of the most powerful and in the helm of affairs

2. You couldn’t see that you fed the monster that ended up destroying you

That alliance in the 50s with Ahmadu Bello and the North and your projection of the Unitarian ideology is what they use presently to dominate the country.

No one else propagated that ideology more than yourselves for more than a decade in the first republic

Did the Middle Belt feed the monster? Not really. I have read extensively about the Gowon group and the Murtala group clashing severally.

The Dimka coup was also a Middle Belt vs North issue which led to many executions of people from our region.

The UMBC agitations through out the 50s was another and the Vatsa and Orkar coup are others

So I don’t think you even know what you are talking about

Someone whose ancestors partnered with the North to oppose secession clause, reject a COR region and Middle Belt has no business educating me about history

Many of you propagandists do not even read history books. You take your history from online conspiracy theorists

Imagine speaking about Middle Belters when your ancestors post independence played a role in the declaration of a state of emergency in the Western region, one of the key actors that led to the fall of the first republic

Unfortunately, you do not even know who our people are, if you did, you will realize that for every Arewa bandit who invades us, also leaves with casualties

Also you do not understand the concept of geography because they have spread to your areas too and are attacking your people

Maybe that is also Karma. Just maybe