1966 Nigerian coup d'état

1966 Nigerian coup d'etat
Date 15–16 January 1966 Location Nigeria Result Coup failed End of the First Nigerian Republic Assassination of 11 senior Politicians Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi seizes power Coup conspirators arrested Beginning of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria (1966-1979) Beginning of the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom[1] 1966 Nigerian counter-coup six months later
Belligerents
Government of Nigeria	Rebel Army Officers
Commanders and leaders
Nnamdi Azikiwe[2] Nwafor Orizu[3] Abubakar Balewa † Ahmadu Bello † Samuel Akintola † Festus Okotie-Eboh † Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi	Kaduna Nzeogwu Timothy Onwuatuegwu Emmanuel Ifeajuna Adewale Ademoyega Chris Anuforo Humphrey Chukwuka Don Okafor
Strength
unknown	unknown
Casualties and losses
22 dead	0

The 1966 Nigerian coup d'état began on 15 January 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people^[4] including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty.^[5][6] The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day span of time before the coup plotters were subdued. The General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, was compelled to take control of the government of a country in upheaval, inadvertently putting Nigeria's nascent democracy on hold.^[7] His ascendancy to power was deemed a conspiracy by the coup plotters, who were mainly Igbo officers, to pave the way for General Aguiyi-Ironsi to be Head of State of Nigeria. Consequently, the retaliatory events by Northern members of the Nigerian Army that led to deaths of many innocent Igbo soldiers and civilians caused the Nigerian Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

Background[]

In August 1965 a group of Army majors (Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, and Adewale Ademoyega) began plotting a coup d'état against incumbent Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa.^[8] The coup was planned because according to the majors, the men at the helm of affairs were running Nigeria aground with their corrupt ways. Ministers under them were living flamboyant lifestyles and looting public funds at the expense of ordinary citizens.^{[citation needed]}

The president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe left the country in late 1965, first for Europe, then on a cruise to the Caribbean. Under the law, the Senate president, Nwafor Orizu, became acting president during his absence and assumed all the powers of the office.^[9]

Coup[]

In the morning of 15 January 1966, at a meeting with some local journalists in Kaduna seeking to find out what was going on, it was brought to Major Nzeogwu's attention that the only information about the events then was what was being broadcast by the BBC.^[8] Nzeogwu was surprised because he had expected a radio broadcast of the rebels from Lagos. He is said to have "gone wild" when he learnt that Emmanuel Ifeajuna in Lagos had not made any plans whatsoever to neutralize Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who was the Commander of the Army. Therefore, Nzeogwu hurriedly drafted a speech which was broadcast on Radio Kaduna sometime around 12 a.m. and in which he declared martial law over the Northern Provinces of Nigeria.^[10][11]

Aftermath[]

Acting President Nwafor Orizu made a nationwide broadcast, after he had briefed President Nnamdi Azikiwe on the phone about the decision of the cabinet, announcing the cabinet's "voluntary" decision to transfer power to the armed forces.^{[citation needed]} Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi then made his own broadcast, accepting the "invitation". On 17 January, Major General Ironsi established the Supreme Military Council in Lagos and effectively suspended the constitution.^[3]

Casualties[]

Regarding the casualties, the coup conspirators claimed their purge post-coup targeted members or supporters of the anterior regime and had been targeted for purely political reasons instead of being a racial purge focused on certain ethnic groups or clans; furthermore, they also claimed the list of people targeted was small and composed of only 8 people, half of them foreigners who were to be arrested not killed, and that the casualties had occurred as collateral damage of the coup. These claims were clarified by a member of the trio that formed the coup, Adewale Ademoyega, who published them in Nigeria in 1981 in a book titled Why We Struck outlining their reasons and motivations^[12] in which he mentioned:

" There was no decision at our meeting to single out any ethnic group for elimination. Our intentions were honourable, our views were national and our goals were idealistic. Even those earmarked for arrest, four were northerners, two were Westerners and two were Easterners. "

Below is a comprehensive list of casualties from the coup.^[4]

Civilians[]

• Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
• Premier Ahmadu Bello
• Premier Samuel Ladoke Akintola
• Finance Minister Festus Okotie-Eboh
• Ahmed Ben Musa (Bello's Senior Assistant Secretary for Security)^[13]
• Hafsatu Bello
• Mrs Latifat Ademulegun
• Zarumi Sardauna
• Ahmed Pategi (Bello's driver)^[13]

Military and police[]

• Brig. Samuel Ademulegun
• Brig. Zakariya Maimalari
• Col. Ralph Shodeinde^[14]
• Col. Kur Mohammed ^[15]
• Lt. Col. Abogo Largema^[15]
• Lt. Col. James Pam^[15]
• Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe
• Sergeant Daramola Oyegoke (assisted Nzeogwu in the attack on the Sardauna's lodge and according to the police report was murdered by Nzeogwu)^[5][6]
• PC Yohana Garkawa
• Lance Corporal Musa Nimzo
• PC Akpan Anduka
• PC Hagai Lai
• Philip Lewande

References[]

• "SPECIAL BRANCH REPORT: "Military Rebellion of 15th January 1966"".
• Siollun, Max (30 October 2005). "The inside story of Nigeria's first military coup". kwenu.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
• Coutsoukis, Photius (1 June 1991). "Nigeria - The 1966 Coups, Civil War, and Gowon's Government". Photius.com. Greece: Information Technology Associates LLC (ITA). The Library of Congress Country Studies/CIA World Factbook. Archived from the original on 29 December 2005. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
• Isiguzo, Christopher (20 July 2010). Rose, Esther; Aziken, Emmanuel; Ba, Amadou Mahtar (eds.). "Nigeria: Jan 1966 Coup Planned By Revolutionaries, Says Study". AllAfrica. Lagos, Nigeria: AllAfrica Global Media. This Day. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010.
• Francis, James (29 March 2009). "The history of coup d'etat in Nigeria". It is all about the history of Nigeria. Retrieved 12 February 2015.