Retired General Benjamin Adekunle, aka
‘Black Scorpion’ on Saturday morning died in Lagos State, his wife Mrs. Folake
Adekunle announced.
The deceased was born in Kaduna State on June 1936, he served in
the Nigerian Army from 1958-1974. He reportedly assumed command of the Lagos
Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col after serving in the Congo crisis and the
Nigeria civil war.
Adekunle was reportedly tasked to have lead elements which
comprised two new battalions (7th and 8th) to conduct the historic sea borne
assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968, under by Major Isaac
Adaka Boro’s unit). The aforementioned incident occurred 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, who was promoted to Colonel after the Bonny landing,
became 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.
Later, he was reportedly posted 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. Following his doubt
over the name “3 Infantry Division”, when considering the nature of the unique
terrain in which his men had to fight, he then changed the name to 3 Marine
Commandos (3MCDO) with getting approval from Army HQ. He is described as the
most easily controversial, celebrated and mythologised figure in the war of
attrition that laid the foundations for Nigeria’s contemporary crisis, as well
as wedge into the national fabric.
It would be recalled that Nigeria on July 2013
lost one his army generals, who then theNational Security Adviser
General Owoye Azazi, in a controversial helicopter crash.
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