From C-130 to Sambissa, by Emeka Obasi

War, they say, is a series of surprises. Those who dread death stay away from it, this is enough reason to salute our heroes, including Brig. General Musa Uba ,who go to battle, bent on keeping compatriots safe from invaders and terrorists.

Uba, Commanding Officer, 25 Task Force Brigade was lost in an ambush by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), along the Damboa – Biu Road, on November 14, 2025. Curiously, this happened four years after Brig. General Dzarma Zirkusu was killed by the same group.

Zirkusu, Commanding the 28 Task Force Battalion, died with three of his men, in an ambush in Askira, in the Uba Local Government Area. Losing two one – star generals to terrorists, has not helped the image of the Armed Forces.

The military should not be seen as a burial ground, where promising officers are wasted for no fault of theirs. Whether in the air or on the ground, the high mortality rate has left many families without bread winners. Widows are churned out regularly.

In the troubled North – East, we have lost Col. Dahiru Bako, Lt. Col Mohammed  Abu Ali, Lt.Col Aliyu Paiko and a couple of Air Force and Naval officers. Thousands of Service men also perished in ambushes laid by what began as rag tag Boko Haram but has grown to a modern fighting force enlarged with the arrival of ISWAP.

The Armed Forces fought in Liberia, they were active in Sierra Leone. We saw them in Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Angola, Congo and the Gambia. The last time there was heavy battle at home, was during the Civil War between 1967 and 1970.

Regularly, I come across people who bear the pains of loss. The 1992 C – 130 crash continues to haunt many. I understand what it means to lose friends, family or colleagues. At least, I witnessed the Biafran Genocide with my infant eyes and even now, the experience has not departed.

I am in touch with a Senior Old Boy of Government Secondary School, Owerri, Etcheta Egejuru, one of the best sprinters produced by a Nigerian University. His National Youth Service was at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna.He took me back to that 1992 disaster.

“My Constituency on graduation was a direct NYSC posting from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). I cut my teeth in the Academy with the 18th Regular Course. I taught them General Science as part of  General Studies, just after their Battle Inoculation Camp Highland, a few weeks to their Passing out in December 1977,” Egejuru said.

He remembered them by name and some by their specific towns, regretting the huge loss the nation suffered following that ill fated flight that was supposed to terminate in Jaji but ended in the murky swamp of Isheri – Oshun, near Ejigbo, in inner city Lagos.

“I recall my bright naval cadet, K. O. Igwara (N/0652) and MP (Military Police) Onyeozuru Mba (N5945), from Ovim (Abia State). That crash claimed the Armed Forces brightest of that time,” Egejuru added.

Veteran goalie, Tope Ogunkua, lost a close friend, Squadron Leader Kolawole Odubanjo, on a day they sat together for long and planned for the future. There were signs that showed the journey to Jaji would not go well, especially when the Air Force officer was about to leave his buddy’s house.

“Odubanjo came to my house in the morning, with his wife. It was Environmental Sanitation Saturday. We were preparing for a party in Ijebu Igbo. I wanted us to attend the party together. His excuse was that the course in Jaji would soon be over  and we will have enough  time for different parties,” Ogunkua told me.

After the Environmental Exercise, Odubanjo got set to leave. Another sign came. His vehicle refused to start. Everyone around had to do a tedious Pushing Exercise but the car disappointed them the more. “We started pushing and pushing. When he got back home, his wife drove him to the airport.

“Odubanjo was a lovely gentleman, amiable. He was part of ECOMOG in both Liberia and Sierra Leone, as a Puma helicopter pilot,” Ogunkua said. The goalie was part of the IBWA soccer team, The Sharp Shooters, in the days of Coach Mutiu Okunnu. His team mates included Siji Lagunju, Idowu Jimoh, Jude Oluyede and Fatai Atere.

Engineer Kehinde Ogedengbe lost friends in the crash.”Two of my friends died. Major P. Iyayi (N/6069) and Squadron Leader F.O. Akede (NAF/920). Iyayi, a doctor, was such a fun guy to be around.. Akede, too, who then  recently returned from an international assignment,” he explained.

Ogedengbe relocated to the United States a few years after that crash and still has fond memories of the duo. His younger brother, Nath Ogedengbe, was part of the All conquering St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka – Lagos soccer team.

Perhaps, the first recorded Nigerian military officer that died in international duty should be Flight Lieutenant Emmanuel Adeniyi Thomas, a Lagosian, the first Black African pilot to be commissioned by the Royal Air Force, 1942.. He died in an air crash on January 12, 1945. His bones lie in Bath Cemetery, UK.

Sandhurst trained Lieutenant G. Ezeugbana  (N/57), died in the Congo as a member of the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in 1961. His immediate juniors included Chukwuma Nzeogwu,  Chude Sokei, Joe Akahan,  Chris Ude and Alphonsus Keshi.

After Uba, it will be a shame to lose another precious service man to Boko Haram or ISWAP in an ambush. There are enemies within the Nigerian Armed Forces. More should be done about intelligence. It is painful that Uba,  a Borno man, would be killed in his area by terrorists from the same area.

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