Today we remember Hafsatu Bello, the woman who turned love into a shield and took bullet for her husband
A wife who stood before death and whispered, “If death will come, we will die together.”
She took the bullets meant for her husband, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, on that dark morning of January 15, 1966, a night when loyalty met the sound of gunfire.
The history of Nigerian bravery can never be complete without the story of Hafsatu Bello, the devoted wife of Sir Ahmadu Bello.
It was the cold night of January 15, 1966, when gunfire broke the silence of Kaduna. The first Coup in Nigeria’s history had begun, and a convoy of soldiers led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, alongside Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi, Lieutenant Timothy Onwuatuegwu, and Sergeant Ako Nwankwo, stormed the home of Sir Ahmadu Bello,the Sardauna of Sokoto.
Inside, the great northern leader knelt in prayer.Around him, fear gripped his household. His wife,Hafsatu Bello, trembled as distant gunshots echoed closer. When he rose, he turned to his family and said quietly, “They have come for me.”
Hafsatu’s heart broke at the calm in his voice. She reached for his hand. “If death will come,” she whispered: “We will die together, my dear husband”. Moments later, the soldiers burst through the door,shouting orders. The lamps shook; children wailed.And before the bullets flew, Hafsatu did what no soldier expected, she placed herself before her husband, her body a shield of love.
The shots rang out. She fell first, in front of him.Then the Sardauna followed her into silence.
By dawn, both lay side by side in their own blood,husband and wife, leader and light, slain in the first Military Coup that forever changed Nigeria’s Destiny.
Love stood its ground that night, and its name was Hafsatu Bello.
