The events of the 1966 coup which occurred in Nigeria on the 15th of January is not familiar with many people. It was the first ever Nigerian coup, and was spearheaded by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Below I explain how this coup by Ifeajuna led to the killing of 22 people, and how Ifeajuna was later killed by Ojukwu.
Emmanuel Ifeajuna was an Igbo man from Onitsha, who enrolled into the Nigerian Army as a graduate, and quickly rose within the military ranks to become a Major in 1966. In 1965, he had began plotting the coup, together with Kaduna Nzeogwu, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, and a host of others.
On the 15th of January, 1966, they carried out the deadly coup, which led to the death of 22 people, which included; Prime minister Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Festus Eboh, many senior politicians and many senior Army officers. This coup brought about the end of the 1st Nigerian republic, but the coup was a failed coup as some of the coup plotters were arrested.
After the coup, Ifeajuna fled to Ghana through the help of a friend, Christopher Okigbo, where the Ghanaian leader, Kwame Nkrumah welcomed him. Nkrumah was later overthrown and Ifeajuna had to return to Nigeria, especially after Ojukwu had promised him that his life wasn’t at risk. Ifeajuna returned to the military, but this time the Biafran military.
Later on, during the course of the Nigeria civil war, Ojukwu accused Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Victor Banjo, Philip Alale, and Sam Agbam of negotiating with the federal Nigerian officials, via British agents, hoping to bring about a ceasefire, overthrow Ojukwu, and gain prominent positions for themselves.
They were hastily tried and sentenced to death by firing squad for treason. Before Ifeajuna’s death, he claimed that the plan was to preserve civilian life in Enugu from an oncoming assault by federal troops, and to his word, Enugu, the Biafran capital, was captured by federal Nigerian forces two days later.
Ifeajuna and his three co-conspirators were executed by Ojukwu on the 25th of September 1967…..See More
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