Nollywood actor Daniel Etim-Effiong has shared the harrowing details of his father’s 34-year journey through the Nigerian prison system and his “miraculous” escape from the firing squad.
The actor revealed that his father, Retired Lt. Col. Moses Effiong, was caught in the crosshairs of the 1986 Mamman Vatsa coup plot during the Ibrahim Babangida military regime—a period that reshaped their family forever.
The “Miracle” at Kirikiri
The most chilling part of the story involves the moments leading up to the execution of the alleged coup plotters:
- The Last-Minute List: Moses Effiong had already been sentenced to death by firing squad. According to Daniel, as the soldiers were being prepared for execution at Kirikiri prison, an officer walked in with a list of three names.
- A Life-Saving Separation: His father’s name was on that list. The three men were pulled aside and told they were staying behind while the others were being “transferred.”
- The Realization: While the three soldiers initially complained about not being “transferred” with their colleagues, they soon heard the gunfire from the back of the prison. The “transfer” was actually the trip to the stakes where Mamman Vatsa and others were executed.
A Family Broken by Silence
Daniel, who was only one year old when his father was arrested in 1985, explained that his father was not an active plotter but was implicated due to his loyalty to a friend:
- The Burden of Knowledge: A close friend had confided in Lt. Col. Effiong about the plans to remove Babangida. His father chose not to “report” his friend, a silence that led to him being named during interrogations after the plot was leaked.
- Double Tragedy: While his father was in prison, his mother took on the role of both parents, making frequent, grueling trips from Benin to Kano Central Prison to visit him. In a tragic turn of events, when Daniel was just four years old, his mother died in a car accident while traveling to visit his father in jail.
The 34-Year Road to Justice
Though his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was eventually released from physical bars in the 1990s, the “prison” of being a convicted felon remained for decades:
- Loss of Rank: Upon his initial release, he lost all his military benefits, rank, and gratuities, living as a “persona non grata” for years.
- Full Restoration: It wasn’t until 2020 that President Muhammadu Buhari granted Moses Effiong a full presidential pardon, officially clearing his name and restoring his military honors.
- The Book: Daniel mentioned that his father has documented this entire ordeal in a book, providing a firsthand account of one of Nigeria’s most controversial military trials.
