Historical Picture: Execution of Joseph Gomwalk

From being Nigeria’s former Governor to facing firing squad
He was very fortunate in service. A police commissioner, he became one of the longest-serving military governors in the history of Nigeria being in office for about eight years from 1967 until 1975 when the government of Yakubu Gowon was tøppled.
Joseph Deshi Gomwalk, governor of Benue-Plateau, however, met an unfortunate end after he was linked to the abørtive February 13, 1976 cøup.
Joseph Gomwalk was first tried by a military tribunal and acquitted due to a lack of physical evidence linking him directly to the plot
Then, there was public øutrage over the as Sassination of General Murtala Muhammed. At that stage, the military regime decided to retry him under a reconstituted panel. He was convIcted of træson and executed alongside Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka and other conspirators on May 15, 1976.
This photo shows the moment Joseph Gomwalk was tied to a stake just before his execution by a firing squad at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisøn in Lagos on May 15, 1976.
His dæth followed confessions by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka impl!cating him and Helen Gomwalk in the cøup.