Emotional Revelation: Victor Banjo’s Daughter Shares Family’s Painful Wartime Memory
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The daughter of the late Nigerian Army officer, Lt. Col. Victor Adebukunola Banjo, Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, has shared how her family first received news of her father’s execution.
Banjo was reportedly executed on the orders of Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu during the Nigerian Civil War.
Speaking on the State of Affairs podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo, Omigbodun recounted that the family, then based in Kenema, Sierra Leone, learned of the incident through a letter sent to her mother.
She explained that the news was not initially confirmed, but a relative informed them that her father had been killed, after which her mother gathered the family and broke the news to them.
Omigbodun described her father as a remarkable man who provided well for the family and ensured they were financially secure, to the extent that he discouraged his wife from working.
She noted that despite his provision, his death placed a heavy burden on her mother, who had to take full responsibility for raising the children.
She also recalled her mother’s emotional struggle at the time, saying she was deeply distressed and often prayed through sleepless nights while trying to cope with the loss.
Lt. Col. Banjo, a Sandhurst-trained officer, initially served in the Nigerian Army before joining the Biafran side during the civil war. He later fell out with the Biafran leadership, was accused of plotting a coup, convicted of treason by a military tribunal, and executed by firing squad on September 22, 1967.
