Mamman Jiya Vatsa

Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa OFR (3 December 1940 – 5 March 1986) was a senior Nigerian Army officer and writer who was executed by the government of Major General Ibrahim Babangida on 5 March 1986 following a military tribunal conviction for treason associated with an abortive coup. He served as Minister of the Federal Capital Abuja, and was a member of the Supreme Military Council.

Early life and education

Vatsa was childhood friends with Ibrahim Babangida and both men were peers who attended the same educational institutions. Like Babangida, Vatsa attended the Provincial Secondary School, Bida from 1957 to 1962 and started his career with the Nigerian Army by enrolling in the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) on 10 December 1962.

Military career

Since the NMTC was not yet an officer candidate commissioning institution (it would later become one in 1964 when it was upgraded and renamed Nigerian Defence Academy, the Nigerian government sent NMTC cadets who had completed their preparatory cadet training to foreign military academies for officer training and commissioning. After graduating from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Vatsa was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army