Benjamin Adekunle

Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle
Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle
General Officer Commanding 3 Infantry Division, Nigerian Army
In office July 1967 – May 1969
Arọ́pò	Col. O. Obasanjo
Àwọn àlàyé onítòhún
Ọjọ́ìbí	(1936-06-26)26 Oṣù Kẹfà 1936 Kaduna, British Nigeria
Aláìsí	13 September 2014(2014-09-13) (ọmọ ọdún 78) Lagos, Nigeria
Alma mater	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Military service
Nickname(s)	"The Black Scorpion" "Na Cinema"
Allegiance	Nigeria
Branch/service	Adigun Nàìjíríà
Years of service	1958–1974
Rank	Brigadier
Commands	3 Marine Commando Division
Battles/wars	Congo Crisis Nigerian Civil War Midwest Invasion of 1967 Operation Tiger Claw Invasion of Port Harcourt Operation OAU

Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle (26 June 1936 – 13 September 2014) jẹ́ ọ̀gágun. àti ajagun ni orílẹ̀ èdè Nàìjíríà.

Ìgbésí ayé àti Ìpìlẹ̀.

Adekunle jẹ́ ọmọ bíbí ìpínlè Kaduna. Omo bíbí ìlú Ogbomoso ni baba tó bí lọ́mọ, nígbà tí ìyà rẹ jẹ ọmọ ẹ̀yà Bachama. O lọ sílè ẹ̀kọ́ gírámà tí jọba ní ìlú Okene, lèyí tí á ń pè ní Abdul Aziz Atta Memorial College, Okene ní Ìpínlè Kogi. .O dara pọ̀ mọ́ ẹgbẹ́ ológun ni 1958 lẹ́yìn ìgbà tó parí ìdánwò ilé ẹ̀kọ́ gírámà. Ó yege níbi ìdánwò ọmọ ogún náà, leyii tí ó gbe lọ sí Royal Military Academy Sandhurst ní orílẹ̀ èdè Uk. Òun ni Ọ̀gágun kejì ni December 15, 1960. Bí ó ṣe jẹ́ olórí ẹ̀ka kan, ó ṣisẹ́ ni Kasai Province tí Ìlú Togo pẹ̀lú Olórí Batallion Regiment ti orile-ede Naijiria nígbà àkọ́kọ́ alàáfíà jọba. Ní 1962, Ọ̀gágun Adekunle di Aide-de-Camp sí gómìnà ti ìlà oòrùn, ìyẹn Akanmu Ibiam. Ọdún tó tẹ̀lé, ìgbà tó di Ọ̀gágun, wọ́n gbé e padà lọ sí Congo gẹ́gẹ́ bí Ọ̀gá Ọ̀gágun (A) sì Olú ibùdó wọn ní Luluabourg-lábẹ́ Ọ̀gágun B. Baba Femi Ogundipe. Ní 1964,Ọ̀gágun Adekunle lọ sí kọ́lẹ̀ẹ̀jì Wellington ni orílẹ̀-èdè India. When he returned he was briefly appointed Adjutant General at the Army Headquarters in May 1965 to replace Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, who was proceeding on a course outside the country. However, he later handed over the position to Lt. Col. James Pam and was posted back to his old Battalion (1st Bn) in Enugu as a Company Commander.

Nigerian Civil War

Adekunle later assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col. When the Nigerian Civil War erupted in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements which included two new battalions (7th and 8th) - to conduct the historic sea borne assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968 (carried out by Major Isaac Adaka Boro's unit). This happened after the federal government gained confidence of most south western ethnic groups as a direct result of Biafran push to mid-west state and probe into Western region. Adekunle was promoted to colonel after the Bonny landing.

The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu) battalions of the Lagos Garrison subsequently took part in operations to liberate the Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo's Unit was seconded to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos. He, therefore, protested to Army HQ and got the Lagos garrison upgraded to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 32 Battalions (under Majors Aliyu and Hamman, respectively). This formation, combined with elements of the Lagos garrison along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry Division. However, Colonel Adekunle did not think the name "3 Infantry Division" was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from Army HQ, he renamed it the " 3 Marine Commando (3MCDO)." The "Black Scorpion" as he came to be known, was easily the most controversial, celebrated and mythologized figure^{[citation needed]} in the war of attrition that laid the foundations for Nigeria's contemporary crisis; and threw a wedge into the national fabric. Benjamin "Adekunle's boys including Godwin Alabi-Isama who then is his Chief of Staff, seized Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima. They captured Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba".

Regarding the blockade of Biafra during which more than 1 million Igbo children died of starvation, Adekunle was quoted as saying, "I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I want to prevent even one Ibo having even one thing to eat before their capitulation."

Role after the civil war

Benjamin Adekunle was promoted to Brigadier in 1972. After the war Adekunle was put in charge of decongesting the Lagos port that was having a chronic problem of clearing imported goods. He held this position until being compulsorily retired on 20 August 1974.

He attributed his problems during and after the war to his rivals in the army. In various interviews, he said there was always a rumor of coup linked to him until the army authority felt the concern to do something about it. He had large followings in both the army and public at large and was the most popular military commander during the war, apart from Obasanjo, who succeeded him and brought the war to an end with the same 3MC.

Adekunle led the Third Marine Commando Division with such great panache and determination that the foreign media, in looking for a human angle on the Biafran war, found him a ready source of news.

He died on 13 September 2014 and was buried in the Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi, Lagos

Àwọn ìtọ́kasí

• Adekunle, Abiodun (2003). The Nigeria-Biafra Letters: A Soldier's Story. Africa Phoenix Group. ISBN 0-9740761-0-4. 

External links

• Battle of Port Harcourt: Col. Adekunle's 3 Marine Commando Div. Deny Biafra Access To Sea, May 1968

• Federal Troops Attack Arochukwu, Col. Adekunle's 3 Marine Commando, Nigerian Civil War, July 1968