Nigerian Armed Forces Day Feature: The Battle At Mammy Yoko Hotel, Freetown On 26th May 1997

A Nigerian soldier takes aim from the rooftop

Nigeria has played a dominant role in ensuring the stability of the West African sub-region and its troops have shown exceptional valour in taming some of the most savage conflicts including the Sierra Leone Civil War. An outstanding show of bravery and iron-like tenacity took place at the luxurious Mammy Yoko Hotel in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown.

Rear view of the Mammy Yoko hotel, a day before the siege

Six years after the brutal start of the war in 1991 between the government and bloodthirsty rebel army, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a military coup by Sierra Leone Army (SLA) officers overthrew then President Tejan Kabbah and brought Major Johnny Koroma to power. Astonishingly this new regime invited the RUF to help it capture Freetown from forces loyal to Kabbah. The RUF had since the beginning of the war engaged in mutilation, mass rape, looting and unspeakable evil that elevated the horror of war to a new level. The RUF accepted the invitation and helped the regime, known as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) capture Freetown. With this done, a wave of death, mutilation, torture and rape swept the capital.

RUF Rebels like this carried out unspeakable horror on innocent people when they took Freetown 

The international community including Nigeria was outraged at the coup and carnage and opposed the new regime. Suddenly, Nigerian troops who had been stationed in that country for years as part of the ECOMOG force as allies of the Sierra Leone soldiers found that their allies had become overnight enemies. Fewer than 700 grossly outnumbered Nigerian soldiers were suddenly pinned down in a hostile capital crawling with thousands of soldiers and deadly rebels who had been on the receiving end of Nigerian bullets for some time. Out of the modest number of troops, 50 men were posted to secure the luxurious and International Mammy Yoko Hotel which was safe haven for more than 1000 foreigners unable to leave the country including West Africans, Lebanese and international journalists. Unfortunately for the lightly armed men at the hotel, a Nigerian warship stationed offshore started shelling the Sierra Leone Army headquarters. This angered the SLA troops and their RUF allies who in  their thousands angrily attempted to storm the hotel, and laid siege with rocket launchers, assault rifles, heavy machine guns and other heavy weapons including a few strikes by an attack helicopter piloted by a Ukranian mercenary.

A young and fierce Lt. Alechenu (Now Colonel) of the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps on the roof of the Mammy Yoko. 

The Nigerian troops spread themselves out over strategic areas of the huge building (especially the roof) and frustrated the vastly superior rebel force for several hours, killing many RUF rebels and SLA fighters. This group of Nigerian fighters not only secured the hotel, it also committed a sizeable part of the enemy forces  in the intense firefight and bought time for the larger Nigerian force to secure the airport and enable Nigerian Air-force jets take control of  the airspace as well as ground forces that eventually recaptured Freetown.

Nigerian soldiers are among the finest fighters in the world and on a good day they can really kick butt! Nuff respect to the Nigerian Armed Forces. Keeping the peace everywhere they are called to.