“IBB was my husband’s best man at our wedding, and even with all the evidence and their close relationship, I still find it hard to believe he killed his own buddy. Sufiya was cited as saying, “I thought IBB, and my husband were of the same family when we got married.” Both of them were dressed in the same size dress and shoes. In our home, IBB would take off his dirty clothes and put on my husband’s. My spouse looked after Mariam and her kids when IBB left for additional military training. In addition to mounting the horse when IBB married Mariam, General Vatsa reportedly purchased their first set of furniture on hire buy from Leventis, according to Mamman Vatsa’s wife Sufiya.
Sufiya’s descent into abject poverty started on December 23, 1985. The family had just wrapped up preparations to go to Calabar because, customarily, they celebrated the Id-el-Fitri in Minna, Niger State, the Id-el Kabir in Kaduna, and the Yuletide in the capital of Cross River State (Sufiya is Efik).
Following the essential preparations for the journey, the family bided their time until General Vatsa emerged from the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) gathering that he had participated in. The excursion was rescheduled for the next day because he arrived home later than expected. Sufiya was watching a movie in her bedroom at around midnight when her husband, who working in his study, came running in to tell her that IBB had sent for him. The wife objected, saying Vatsa should call his boss and reschedule the appointment for the next morning because it was too late in the evening. Lt. Col. U.K. Bello led a group of soldiers to Vatsa’s residence on Rumens Street in Ikoyi, Lagos, during this discussion.
The residence was encircled by the soldiers who arrived in military vans and armored cars. Vatsa ordered his upstairs-based wife to peek out the window. She ran downstairs, unable to control her anxiety, and demanded that she follow the soldiers if they took her husband away.
Vatsa was to be driven by Sufiya in her Pengeot 404, as demanded by her. Vatsa ordered the kids to wake up at this moment, and he gave each of them a kiss. The first son, Haruna, a student at Zaria’s Military Training School, accompanied them downstairs while in tears. Sufiya and Vatsa were driven by a chauffeur in their own car while UK Bello led the convoy. This turned out to be a roundabout journey throughout Lagos till almost two in the morning, when they came to a stop at 7 Cameron Road, Ikoyi. Someone told Vatsa to get out of the car.
Sufiya chased after him as he made his way inside the building, but the soldiers angrily dragged her back. Turning, the General gave his wife a bear hug—the last of their marriage. He asked his wife to look after their kids. Sufiya came home feeling sad. She was shocked to learn that the official domestic staff had been withdrawn by military officials. She cooked fried yam and pawpaw for breakfast at five in the morning and traveled to her husband’s detention facility, where she was informed, she was not allowed to bring any food. Vatsa’s spouse was in for another surprise.
“Madam, Oga’s wife, Mrs. Mariam Babangida, said I should bring General Vatsa’s phone handset to her,” a soldier entered. Vatsa’s daughter Fatima clutched the device. The 15-year-old girl and the soldier engaged in combat, with the soldier’s muscles protruding like Michaelangelo’s statue’s biceps.
Sufia asked her daughter to give up the set that was most likely defective. Even worse, the family’s home was under siege by a group of sterns, menacing soldiers under the command of Captain Maku, an Idoma-born intelligence officer and former Aide-de-Camp (ADC) of Vatsa. Maku yelled, “Madam, no visitors, no phone calls, no going out,” as he sat back on the living room sofa, his homemade toothpick protruding from the corner of his lips. Maku, whose amiable demeanor had changed while he was Vatsa’s batman, ordered that the woman and her kids “must manage” when Sufiya objected that the family needed to buy food. Sufiya was forced to remain in captivity for three days before she lost patience. “Look, I’m going to the market,” she said to Maku. There will be a death between you and me if you refuse me. I’ll prove to you that I’m a soldier’s spouse.
The soldiers cocked their weapons menacingly at her, but she seized her car and drove it straight into the gate, which fell way as the troops dispersed wildly in all directions. After arriving in Falomo, she made the decision to see General Gado Nasko, a friend of her husband’s. She also bought bread and eggs. Sufiya, on the other hand, had driven home prior to the trip to Nasko, dropped the food, and driven to the Nasko’s because her daughter happened to be at the gate.
Sufiya’s task was to ask Nasko to schedule a meeting so that she and IBB could work out a resolution. Nasko’s determination paid out, despite the soldiers at her home giving her the cold shoulder. Nasko requested Sufiya to see him in the evening, stating that he would try to set up the meeting and that he was aware of the issue. Her optimism surged. The unique bond between her family and IBB’s was the cause. Sufiya was cited as saying, “I thought IBB, and my husband were of the same family when we got married.” Both of them were dressed in the same size dress and shoes. In our home, IBB would take off his dirty clothes and put on my husband’s. My spouse looked after Mariam and her kids when IBB left for additional military training. Aside from mounting the horse at IBB’s marriage to Mariam, General Vatsa rented their first furniture set from Leventis. During our wedding, IBB served as my husband’s best man as well. Maryam used to take my Peugeot 404 when her Mercedez broke down. We had a close relationship. To Babangida, none of these mattered in the realm of realpolitik. Later in the day, Nasko informed Sufiya that the military President wasn’t ready to visit her.
When Sufiya went back to her home in Ikoyi on Rumen’s Street, she was in for another letdown. She found a Bonny Camp soldier waiting for her, with an order ordering the family to leave the property. After saying that the vehicle should be brought to Army Headquarters for a security inspection, another military officer forced entry into the glove box of the vehicle and took Vatsa’s writings. Sufiya hired a trailer and relocated the family’s possessions to Kaduna out of annoyance. But she and Fatima went back and lived at her brother-in-law’s home on Queen’s Drive in Ikoyi. When Okoro’s phone was bugged by military agents, the Nigerian lawyer, a Senior Advocate, got uneasy.
Sufiya didn’t see her husband again until after President Ibrahim Babangida, a military figure, had ordered his execution. Sufiya stated in a 2005 interview that the Vatsa family experienced financial difficulties as a result of the military seizing all of her husband’s assets.