The family of late General Mamman Vatsa, granted presidential pardon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday described the action “as our greatest moment of joy since the late Vatsa was executed 39 years ago”.

General Vatsa was executed along with 9 others in 1986 when a military tribunal found them guilty of coup plot.

The family in a statement made available to newsmen in Minna Niger State on Friday and signed by a former Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr Jonathan Vatsa, said: “President Tinubu has wiped away the tears of the family after 39 years of sorrow and sadness.

“After several appeals to successive administrations, God has finally used President Tinubu to console our family, the Gulu Vatsa community, Lapai local government and the entire Niger state”.

“Today (Friday) is the happiest moment in the life of the family after 39 years of sorrow and sadness following the killing of our late father, brother and uncle, “Though nothing can bring him back to life, the family is consoled by this display of statesmanship by our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.

The statement noted: “Justice can never be denied but can only be delayed, the family is convinced that the late Vatsa must be a happy person today in his grave by this singular act of compassion by president Tinubu,” adding, “this goes to show that truth doesn’t expire”.

The ststement said the family continues to hold strongly that late General Vatsa was not involved in the coup plot and was “framed up”and “the trial, a stage-managed one just to eliminate the late Vatsa out of envy and hatred for a man who has a root and identity”.

The conviction of the family, according to Jonathan Vatsa, was also reinforced when “a highly respected Military General, late Domkat Bali, once said in an interview that the evidence against General Vatsa was weak and that he doesn’t know whether he was supposed to have been killed.

“That is why the family still maintain that the late Vatsa was innocent of the coup. But we still thank President Tinubu for his magnanimity in granting him the state pardon.”

The statement said President Tinubu by the action “has written his name in gold and history will forever remember him” (This Day)