Nigerian Civil War Hero, Benjamin Adekunle Dies

Retired Brigadier Gen. Benjamin Adekunle, fondly referred to as "The Black Scorpion" has died.
His wife, Folake disclosed that he died in Lagos on Saturday morning. He was 78.
Adekunle, who was a Colonel during the Civil War served in the army between 1958 and 1974. He was the Commanding Officer of the 3 Infantry Division of the army which fought at the
Atlantic Theater. Adekunle, without a formal approval of the leadership of the army changed the Division's name to "3rd Marine Commando", (3MCDO) which was known to be the "best fighting machine of the Nigerian Army". With one of the famous operations in the heartland of Biafra, the proposed movement on the CO's operational plan looked like a scorpion and since he used a black marker, European journalists who saw the map described it as "Operation Black Scorpion".
Not only did Adekunle become the face of the 3 Marine Commando Division, a black scorpion was used as the logo of the division during the war. Men that provided him support during the war included Lt Cols Godwin Alabi-Isama (his Chief of Staff), Alani Akinrinade, Shande and Major Isaac Adaka Boro.
Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo was called

to take over from Adekunle after a move that caused the death of a lot of his men. He was believed to have suffered post traumatic stress, though not officially proven. Obasanjo was CO of the 3MCDO when Biafra surrendered.