Daniel Etim-Effiong, the Nigerian actor, has detailed his father’s decades-long imprisonment after being wrongly linked to the 1986 Vatsa coup plot.
In a recent interview with Diary of a Naija Girl, the actor
revealed that Moses Effiong, a retired lieutenant colonel, spent 34 years in
prison following his arrest during one of Nigeria’s most tense military
crackdowns.
Effiong said he was just one year old in 1985 when his
father was detained, months after Ibrahim Babangida seized power from Muhammadu
Buhari in a palace coup.
He said suspicion of a counter-coup soon emerged, with
Mamman Vatsa — a close ally of Babangida — accused as the mastermind.
According to the actor, his father was not involved in the
plot but was implicated after a colleague, under pressure, named him during
interrogations.
“When the whole thing was leaked and he was arrested, his
best friend was also arrested. They asked him who he told about the coup, and
he mentioned my dad,” Effiong said.
He added that his father was investigated and initially
sentenced to death by firing squad but narrowly escaped execution in what he
described as a “miraculous” turn of events.
Effiong recounted that three soldiers, including his father,
were separated from others who were later taken to the back of Kirikiri prison
and executed.
“He brought out the 3 soldiers and said these 3 soldiers are
to stay here, the rest of you are going on transfer. The three soldiers were
like ‘ah ah, we too, we want to go on transfer now, why are we not going on
transfer, we’re all together’. They took those going on transfer to the back of
Kirikiri and shot them. That is how they died,” he said.
His father’s sentence was subsequently reduced to life
imprisonment and he remained behind bars for 34 years. He said his dad was
eventually granted a presidential pardon in 2020.
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