Abbas Yushau Yusuf
After six years of independence, Nigeria’s political scene refuses to stabilize as coups and counter-coups have been devastating the country.
Nigeria experienced its first coup deta’t on January 15 1966 and that of July 29, 1966, but one of the devastating coups which receive condemnation from all quarters was the February 1976 coup which led to the killing of the Head of state General Murtala Ramat Muhammad.
The arrowhead of the coup was Lt-colonel Suka Bukar Dimka, the Director Army Physical and training corps who assigned the executioners to target and assassinate the triumvirate of General Murtala Muhammad, Olusegun Obasanjo, and General TY Danjuma.
When Dimka and his co-conspirators did not succeed he ran away from Radio Nigeria where he was making a broadcast of the coup and hide in a hotel in Lagos with his Girlfriend called Maria.
Maria has been notifying Dimka in the Hotel that he is already a dead man considering the dangers he caused to himself and the nation.
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While he was in the Hotel he asked her to go out to some streets of Lagos and buy food for them, she returned and informed him that all the shops were locked and only protests are greeting the streets of Lagos and beyond.
By the time Colonel Dimka realized that he is no longer safe he went to the garage and painted his car, changed his ID card, and drove away to Jos the capital of plateau state.
By the time he was on the road he sighted a roadblock of soldiers checking vehicles, he immediately alighted from the vehicle and ran away.
In Jos, he went to a Hotel and meet the Hotel manager, and presented himself as MR CC Godwin from the Federal Ministry of Agric.
While resting in the Hotel with Mrs. Beatrice a Prostitute, Police stormed the Hotel and said they came to arrest Lt-Colonel Suka Bukar Dimka, the Hotel Manager told them that he don’t have Colonel Dimka but Mr. CC Godwin from the federal ministry of Agriculture.
The police went back and informed the Divisional police officer, the DPO returned the police back and asked them to go and look for Mr. CC Godwin.
The Hotel Manager permitted them to enter the room, they knocked on the door, Dimka was irritated and become fearful, he refuses to open the door he broke the window toilet of the Hotel room where he was staying and took to his heels.
As the police officers broke the door Dimka was not found, the police in Plateau state continue to mount serious surveillance, Dimka was tired till he went to a farm along the road leading to Benue state where he intended to move out from Nigeria’s border to Abakaliki.
A police officer rode on a roadmaster motorcycle and follow through thick and Bush and Dimka were sighted till he boarded a bus that will take him to the Nigerian border.
The police stopped the Bus and asked the driver to park, declaring that the Vehicle is under arrest, while in the vehicle Dimka sighted a soldier that he knew very well whom he thinks has recognized him but was just minding his own Business.
The vehicle’s occupants were asked to alight one by one, when it comes to the turn of Colonel Dimka a police inspector asked them to follow him, he was nursing the idea to run away but he was tired.
The moment they entered the police station along the route to which he decided to run away from Nigeria.
Inspector Idris Baba Aliyu made the following statement.
I inspector Idris Baba Aliyu have arrested you Colonel Suka Bukar Dimka, he submitted his hands for chaining and handcuffing.
