Former Nigerian legislator, Senator Shehu Sani, said on Wednesday that Nigeria is being haunted by the seed of evil of brutal killing of former Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, popularly known as Sardauna of Sokoto, and others in January 1966.
Senator Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the Senate stated this in a post on his social media account.
According to him, Bello did everything for his people and his country Nigeria but died a materially poor man.
He said that no house, vehicle or company could be traced to Bello’s name or any of his family members in Kaduna where he lived, led and brutally murdered, stressing that after he was killed, his belongings were taken to his family home in Sokoto.
Sani wrote, “For those of us in Kaduna where the Late Premier of Northern Nigeria lived, led and was brutally murdered, we couldn’t yet find any house, vehicle or company traced to his name or any of his family members.
“After he was killed, his belongings were taken to his family home in Sokoto.
“The late Sardauna did everything for his people and his country and died a materially poor man.
“His murder and that of others in 1966 was the seed of evil that continues to haunt our country.
“May the souls of all the victims of the 1966 coup rest in peace. Ameen.”
— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) January 15, 2025
Bello was assassinated on January 15, 1966, during a coup led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, a coup which toppled Nigeria’s post-independence government.
Bello was still serving as premier of Northern Nigeria at the time of his assassination.
The coup was the first in the history of Nigeria, which heralded the rise of the military regime in Nigeria’s politics.
Also assassinated in the coup was Bello’s longtime friend, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside many political elites in the northern and western regions of Nigeria.