The Nigerian high jumper was the first black African to win a gold medal but his remarkable story
had a tragic end. He was tied to a stake and executed for treason. Read the story below written by
former Sports Editor of the Observer, Brian Oliver...





The first time Emmanuel Ifeajuna appeared before a crowd of thousands he did something no
black African had ever done. He won a gold medal at an international sporting event. “Nigeria
Creates World Sensation,” ran the headline in the West African Pilot after Ifeajuna’s record-
breaking victory in the high jump at the 1954 Empire and Commonwealth Games in
Vancouver. He was the pride not just of Nigeria but of a whole continent. An editorial asked:
“Who among our people did not weep for sheer joy when Nigeria came uppermost, beating all
whites and blacks together?”

In the words of a former schoolmate, Ifeajuna had leaped “to the very pinnacle of Nigerian
sporting achievement”. His nine track and field team-mates won another six silver and bronze
medals, prompting a special correspondent to write “Rejoice with me, oh ye sports lovers of
Nigeria, for the remarkable achievements of our boys”.
Ifeajuna, feted wherever he went, would soon see his picture on the front of school exercise
books. He was a great national hero who would remain Nigeria’s only gold medallist, in
Commonwealth or Olympic sport, until 1966.


The next time Ifeajuna appeared before a crowd of thousands he was bare-chested and tied to a
stake, facing execution before a seething mob. He had co-led a military coup in January 1966 in
which, according to an official but disputed police report, he shot and killed Nigeria’s first prime
minister. The coup failed but Ifeajuna escaped to safety in Ghana, dressed as a woman and was
driven to freedom by a famous poet. Twenty months later, he was back, fighting for the
persecuted Igbo people of eastern Nigeria in a brutal civil war that broke out as a consequence of
the coup.



Ifeajuna and three fellow officers were accused by their own leader, General Emeka Ojukwu, of
plotting against him and the breakaway Republic of Biafra. They denied charges of treason: they
were trying to save lives and their country, they said, by negotiating an early ceasefire with the
federal government and reuniting Nigeria. They failed, they died and, in the next two and a half
years, so did more than a million Igbos.
The day of the execution was 25 September, 1967, and the time 1.30pm. There was a very short
gap between trial and execution, not least because federal troops were closing in on Enugu, the
Biafran capital, giving rise to fears that the “guilty four” might be rescued.


As the execution approached, the four men – Ifeajuna, Victor Banjo, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam
– were tied to stakes. Ifeajuna, with his head on his chest as though he was already dead, kept
mumbling that his death would not stop what he had feared most, that federal troops would enter
Enugu, and the only way to stop this was for those about to kill him to ask for a ceasefire.

A body of soldiers drew up with their automatic rifles at the ready. On the order of their officer,
they levelled their guns at the bared chests of the four men. As a hysterical mass behind the firing
squad shouted: “Shoot them! Shoot them!” a grim-looking officer gave the command: “Fire!” The
deafening volley was followed by lolling heads. Ifeajuna slumped. Nigeria’s great sporting hero
died a villain’s death. But he had been right. By 4pm two and a half hours after the executions, the
gunners of the federal troops had started to hit their targets in Enugu with great accuracy. The
Biafrans began to flee and the city fell a few days later.
Of all the many hundreds of gold medallists at the Empire and Commonwealth Games since 1930
none left such a mark on history, led such a remarkable life or suffered such a shocking death as
Ifeajuna.

His co-plotter in the 1966 coup, Chukwuma Nzeogwu, was buried with full military honours and
had a statue erected in his memory in his home town. But for Ifeajuna, the hateful verdict of that
seething mob carried weight down the years. His name was reviled, his sporting glory all but
written out of Nigeria’s history. His name is absent from the website of the Athletics... Continue here

culled from
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/13/commonwealth-games-emmanuel-ifeajuna-nigeria

[b]The next time Ifeajuna appeared before a crowd of thousands he was bare-chested and tied to a
stake, facing execution before a seething mob. He had co-led a military coup in January 1966 in
which, according to an official but disputed police report, he shot and killed Nigeria’s first prime
minister. The coup failed but Ifeajuna escaped to safety in Ghana, dressed as a woman and was
driven to freedom by a famous poet. Twenty months later, he was back, fighting for the
persecuted Igbo people of eastern Nigeria in a brutal civil war that broke out as a consequence of
the coup.


Ifeajuna and three fellow officers were accused by their own leader, General Emeka Ojukwu, of
plotting against him and the breakaway Republic of Biafra. They denied charges of treason: they
were trying to save lives and their country, they said, by negotiating an early ceasefire with the
federal government and reuniting Nigeria. They failed, they died and, in the next two and a half
years, so did more than a million Igbos.
The day of the execution was 25 September, 1967, and the time 1.30pm. There was a very short
gap between trial and execution, not least because federal troops were closing in on Enugu, the
Biafran capital, giving rise to fears that the “guilty four” might be rescued.


As the execution approached, the four men – Ifeajuna, Victor Banjo, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam
– were tied to stakes. Ifeajuna, with his head on his chest as though he was already dead, kept
mumbling that his death would not stop what he had feared most, that federal troops would enter
Enugu, and the only way to stop this was for those about to kill him to ask for a ceasefire.[/b]


So Ojukwu even executed his own people? SMFH

It's sad but at least it was ibos that killed him, they should bear the burden of guilt for eternity! Yet Ojukwu escaped and is celebrated? A coward runs, Ojukwu was the coward, yet he is celebrated? I am sure the 3 M ibos dead were part of the retribution for killing Ifeajuna and more for the killing of the eminent Yoruba commander, Victor Banjo! You can imagine what this 4 would do to Ojukwu as soon as he died in London? They must still be beating him till now, only this time there will be no ibo mobs to be propagandized like Ojukwu did in order to kill them!

He got what was coming to him; what goes around comes around; lived by the sword and died by the sword; his life was apparently defined by treachery: he plotted and killed the prime minister in cold blood and was tied to a stake and killed in even worst manner - karma is biatch and Ojukwu, his own kinsman, made sure he was served his portion cold - good for him.

Ibo people! Ffk was never wrong.

Hmmmmm

So this was the guy I use to c at the back of my 2A exercise book then, I never understand what he was doing in that portrate till now, so that was his victory scale. Eeyah! What a sad end.

I am a yoruba man from ekiti state and i dare say this man and his co-coup plotters against biafra are true traitors. They got what they deserved. I mean, how could you go behind your C-in-C to negotiate cease fire with the enemy. When he knew he was not in support of the war, why did he come back from Ghana when the war started. He should have stayed away like zik et al. It doesn't matter if you could jump as high as heaven, your C-in-C would always be your C-in-C. I mean, it was a war we are talking about here and it was also a military regime in Biafra then. I say again...serves him right!

Zionope: So this was the guy I use to c at the back of my 2A exercise book then, I never understand what he was doing in that portrate till now, so that was his victory scale. Eeyah! What a sad end.

yeah he's the one

Well , RIP bravo. But he truly deserved what he got.

Those ethic bigotries will point me black now.
Anyways, let's call a spade a spade...

These are the kind of topics that should make front page and thus gather a wider audience. By doing so, we can learn a whole lot more about our history. I remember how max sioullon-respected nigerian author of military and political history and a nairalander of yore(been long i saw this gentleman and legend on this site) created very revealing and historically enriching threads on nairaland which never made front page. No single person can ever have or collect all the facts about a piece of history! The least we can do is glean off bits from key actors, collaborators and "passers-by". For instance, i just learnt from reading this same topic on linda ikeji's blog that Ifeajuna had two sons- one who was a high jumper(obviously took in his father's footsteps) and another who is a professor now. This comment was made by an anonymous poster. We can get such important tidbits on here from a forum as large as nairaland- something you would probably never see/read from a history book!

You know, many commentators may try hard to raise sentiments without noting some plain facts you rightly stated below...

tonytony208: I am a yoruba man from ekiti state and i dare say this man and his co-coup plotters against biafra are true traitors. They got what they deserved. I mean, how could you go behind your C-in-C to negotiate cease fire with the enemy. When he knew he was not in support of the war, why did he come back from Ghana when the war started. He should have stayed away like zik et al. It doesn't matter if you could jump as high as heaven, your C-in-C would always be your C-in-C. I mean, it was a war we are talking about here and it was also a military regime in Biafra then. I say again...serves him right!

Ifeajuna's death was needless. There were many others that appeared to have died in vain on the Biafran side like: Chukwuma Nzeogwu, Tim Onwuatuegwu ( one of the greatest military strategists amongst the Igbo who fought fearlessly to save the Igbo from total annihilation only to be killed after the war allegedly by Danjuma) and Poet Christopher Okigbo to mention but a few.

Nigeria would have been much better had these men lived.

Every hero, including ojukwu, has got a tragic flaw which sometimes lead to death.

Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe have been accused of corruption too. History is there to back up this claim.

for the sake of peaceful coexistence, some selected memories need to be espunged from the past.

Never knew this before now. Its not fair that important history like this is hidden from the young folks. Like Achebe did before dying, our old men should better start telling us the truth about our past, else the whites tell us all the lies.

REALLY?