Retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Michael Okonta has told a tale of how he managed to avoid dying during the Nigerian Civil War.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
In a report by Punch, Okonta said while traveling to Sapele to buy fish and prawns to sell, he got caught in the conflict. He said the area was being cleared of Biafran soldiers, and he was mistakenly arrested as one of them. He said at that time, the military had a secret way of identifying soldiers through a coded language. He said when they spoke to him in this language, he couldn’t respond correctly, proving he was not a Biafran soldier. He said despite this, he was almost executed twice, however, a commandant recognized that he was innocent and decided to spare his life.
Okonta said the commandant took him under his wing and made him his assistant. He said his duties included washing and ironing the commandant’s clothes. He said he eventually returned home when the commandant was transferred to Calabar
In Okonta’s words: “They presented me twice to be killed but a commandant told them that I was not a Biafran soldier. I was 20 years old then”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>