Former Squadron Commander of the Recce Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major Ibrahim Rida, has recounted on JoyNews how one of Ghana’s most controversial moments in history began.
For some individuals who lived through the regime and witnessed the course of history change, the June 4 revolution, which was tagged a ‘bloody coup’, will be a nightmare for them.
To others, it was a moment of liberation from oppression. On the morning of June 4, 1979, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings led a team of junior army men in another mutiny to capture the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
He then proceeded to address the state, announcing that they were fighting against the repression that had taken place. His statement became detrimental to the officers.
These soldiers fired shots into the air rebelliously while jubilating around 1 am that fateful day. Troops were rallied around with ammunition and armoured cars ready to be dispatched to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, which was at the time under siege.
Major General Odartey Wellington, who responded to a call by the commanding officer, declared that he needed the GBC house to address the troops who orchestrated the insurrection.
Addressing the officers, Major General Odartey Wellington announced that the insurrection was successfully quelled.
He went ahead to order all military men, whether they were actively involved in the uprising or not, to return to base as they resorted to restoring the army to normalcy.
However, the coup, which was believed to have been quelled, was false. It had become successful.
The event of June 4 did not only remove the military government of the day, but it also culminated in the killing of the army commander, Major General Odartey Wellington, who had earlier addressed the nation at the GBC.
He had earlier appealed to the army officers to seize fire.
Maj. General Wellington further urged Flt. Lt. Rawlings and his men to meet him for a meeting, assuring them of no victimisation or arrests they fear may happen.
However, his appeal did not yield any result as he had lost total control of the station and his men, according to his Aide De-Camp at the time.
Later that day, fights broke out in respective camps. Also recounting events that led to his murder, ADC to Major General Captain Emmanuel Opoku (Retired) narrated how armed army men had them surrounded when he and the Major General visited the Nima police station in an attempt to use their communication system to address the military.
According to him, the armed men who had them surrounded opened fire for a few minutes and the Major General, who had raised his head in an attempt to find out what was happening outside got shot in his throat.
The Major General is said to have gasped for breath shortly after and passed a message to his ADC to surrender to cease the firing.
Upon surrender, the armed soldiers marched into the building where the major general was injured. His ADC requested medical attention to be administered to the major general, who was then fighting for his life.
Subsequently, the armed army officer who was carrying an automatic sub-machine gun pressed the trigger and released several rounds of bullets into the major general’s back, who was lying prostrate on the ground.
The said army officer who committed the atrocity was never tried at the time, according to Captain Emmanuel Opoku who recounted that event in a JoyNews documentary.
Many loyal troops and colleagues of Major General Odartey Wellington who surrendered were executed, some were arrested, and detained without trial, and others were sent into exile under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council regime led by JJ Rawlings.
Those who were executed on that fateful day alongside Major General Odartey Wellington include officer, Colonel Joseph Enningful, who was a former Commander of the Support Services of the Ghana Armed Forces. Other soldiers who died that day include Second-Lieutenant J. Agyemang Bio, Corporal William Tingan, Lance Corporal Sorkpor, Trooper Samuel Larsey, Trooper Emmanuel Koranteng-Apau, Lance Corporal Gabriel Follivi, and Lance Corporal Mamudu Kalifa.
The National Reconciliation Commission, in its report, said the revolt of the rank and file of the army against the officers had no motivation and any desire to see democracy restored in the country but to punish those they held responsible for the country’s woes and their woes.
The June 4 revolution replaced the Supreme Military Council, an alleged military dictatorship, with another military dictatorship, AFRC, defeating the whole purpose of the revolution.
MAG/MA
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
