The Nigerian military coup of December 31, 1983 was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military, led to the ouster of the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari, and the installation of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State.

Background
Civil-military tensions were testy as evidenced by the decision of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3rd Division (Major General Muhammadu Buhari) to cut off fuel supplies and food into Chad, an action caused by border disputes between Nigeria and Chad and which was opposed by President Shehu Shagari. Against further orders by Shagari to avoid breaching Chadian Borders, Buhari's units pursued Chadian intruders about 50 km into Chad. These unilateral actions in the words of military historian Nowa Omoigui "undermined civil-military relations and eventually contributed (among other reasons) to a successful coup on December 31, 1983".[1] Prior to December 31, 1983, the Director General of the National Security Organization, Umaru Shinkafi detected chatter associated with up to 10 coup plots but the NSO was unable to act because of the tenuous and vague nature of the intelligence gathered.[2] One of the key coup participants, Major General Ibrahim Babangida noted in Karl Maier's 'Midnight in Nigeria', the media and financial collaboration of business mogul Moshood Kashimawo Abiola in the coup plot.

Coup details
Colonel Tunde Ogbeha was tasked by the coup plotters to negotiate the peaceful surrender of President Shagari's Brigade of Guards army unit. Ogbeha was unable to reach Colonel Bello Kaliel, the Commander of the Brigade of Guards and engaged in a Lagos-to-Abuja-and-back seeking game which made Kaliel suspicious. Brigadier Ibrahim Bako was given the responsibility of arresting President Shagari after Ogbeha's successful negotiation of a peaceful surrender. Unknown to Bako was the fact that no such surrender had been negotiated. Additionally details of the plot had not only been leaked to President Shagari but also Captain Anyogo and Lt Colonel Eboma of the Brigade of Guards mounted a defense of the presidential villa in anticipation of an attack. As expected Brigadier Bako arrived at the Presidential villa to arrest President Shagari but President Shagari's guards were not pacified as expected. A firefight ensued leading to the killing of Brigadier Bako.[3]

Participants
Major General Muhammadu Buhari (General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armored Division, Jos)

Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (Business tycoon who financed the coup plot according to General Babangida)

Major General Ibrahim Babangida (Director of Army Staff Duties and Plans)

Brigadier Ibrahim Bako (Brigade Commander)

Brigadier Sani Abacha (Commander, 9th Mechanized Brigade)

Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon (Military Secretary, Army)

Lt Colonel Aliyu Mohammed (Director of Military Intelligence)

Lt Colonel Halilu Akilu

Lt Colonel David Mark

Lt Colonel Tunde Ogbeha

Major Sambo Dasuki (Military Assistant to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Wushishi)

Major Abdulmumuni Aminu

Major Lawan Gwadabe

Major Mustapha Jokolo (Senior Instructor, Basawa Barracks - Zaria)

Major Abubakar Umar

Additional notes on Buhari's role
General Buhari has denied his involvement in the December 1983 coup however the example of the late Major Daniel Bamidele betrays Buhari's complicity in the December 1983 coup. Nigerian military historians Max Siollun and Nowa Omoigui note that when Major Bamidele got wind of the coup to oust Shagari, Bamidele reported the issue up the chain of command to his GOC 3rd Armored Division (Major General Buhari) who was allegedly in on the plot. To prevent Bamidele from leaking the plot, Buhari ordered the arrest and detention of Bamidele for 2 weeks. Bamidele wasn't released until the successful execution of the coup. Learning from this unfortunate experience, Bamidele didn't report any rumors of the so-called Vatsa coup (between 1985 and 1986) and was executed for it.[4][5] Bamidele's words to the Special Military Tribunal that tried and convicted him are:

"I heard of the 1983 coup planning, told my GOC General Buhari who detained me for two weeks in Lagos. Instead of a pat on the back, I received a stab. How then do you expect me to report this one? This trial marks the eclipse of my brilliant and unblemished career of 19 years. I fought in the civil war with the ability it pleased God to give me. It is unfortunate that I'm being convicted for something which I have had to stop on two occasions. This is not self adulation but a sincere summary of the qualities inherent in me. It is an irony of fate that the president of the tribunal who in 1964 felt that I was good enough to take training in the UK is now saddled with the duty of showing me the exit from the force and the world."[4]

Additionally, in a 2015 interview, Sambo Dasuki alleges that he and two other military officers (co-conspirators) travelled to Jos to brief Major General Buhari, who was then the GOC of 3rd Armoured Division, on the status of planning for the 1983 coup.[6]

Major General Buhari's Supreme Military Council (SMC) observed a minute of silence for the slain Brigadier Bako during the SMCs first meeting.[7]

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Nigerian_coup_d'état

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We all must one day give account to God , including PMB who thinks his heaven is here .

You are just full of hate for PMB

When on April 18, 1983, 19 islands on Lake Chad were suddenly occupied by Chadian troops under Habre, the Nigerian military got a chance to hit back.

The GOC, 3rd Division, Brigadier Buhari, mobilized the 21st Armoured Brigade and unilaterally closed the border, cutting off food and fuel supplies to Chad. Although he felt this was a sound operational move, the action prompted political reprimand from Lagos. But Buhari defied all orders to reopen the border, including that of the President. Buhari rationalized his actions thus: "My first loyalty is to my troops. I cannot endanger their lives by sending them on a difficult battle to defend their fatherland and then turn round to feed the enemy and supply them with fuel for their tanks." Eventually the 21st Armoured Brigade prevailed and all captured Nigerian islands were regained, making Buhari an instant hero in the military. However, in pursuing the Chadian intruders, Buhari's units penetrated 50 kilometers into Chadian territory, once again against strict orders not to cross the border. "Unlike America's General Douglas McArthur who kept opposing President Truman's Korea policy, Buhari was neither cashiered nor redeployed for repeatedly disobeying higher political direction."

As the 1983 Presidential elections approached, proposals to use the military to support the process, met with criticisms from opposing parties fearful of a repeat of the experiences of the sixties. Within the Army itself tensions were also rising about the extent to which they would be used for such purposes rather than the Police. It has been reported that at one of several gatherings of officers to discuss army duties, policies and strategies for the elections, Brigadier Buhari (a former federal minister and state governor) bluntly told then Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General GS Jalo: "Sir, tell Mr. President we can't take on anymore."

Shortly after the elections, which were characterized by the usual litany of usually accurate Nigerian accusations of "vote rigging" at all levels by all parties, the Army tried to influence the choice of government Ministers by sending the President their list of preferred candidates. About this time, increasing signs of army dissent and coup plotting also became apparent but for some reason Shagari chose to handle it informally, once again using Umaru Shinkafi, his NSO Boss as an informal intermediary, perhaps misled by primordial assumptions that officers from his geopolitical zone would not betray him. He was clearly in error because it had already been demonstrated in July 1975 that such a scenario was possible. Reviewing Shagari's biography, a news editor for the Guardian Newspaper in Nigeria, Chukwuma Nwokoh, wrote that "One lesson to be drawn from 'Beckoned to Serve' is that no serving military person can be believed to be loyal to a government. In other words the military is the most perfidious institution ever created by man. On several occasions, hints pointed at the direction of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as a potential coup plotter. Twice, he denied. He even threatened to resign his commission given that his loyalty to the Shagari government was in doubt."

But Buhari was not the only one engaged in invoking personal and regional loyalty while actively plotting. The Director of Army Staff Duties and Plans, Brigadier Ibrahim Babangida and the Director of Military Intelligence, Colonel Aliyu Mohammed, both on friendly terms with the President, paid a long private visit to Shagari in late October or early November to pledge their loyalty. At that very moment, Major Bamidele of the 3rd Division was being detained and put through a trumped-up hearing after he innocently reported rumors of a coup to his boss, Brigadier Buhari in Jos.

A few weeks later on December 31, against a backdrop of increasingly strident public criticisms by former military ruler General Obasanjo, President Shagari was overthrown in a coup by senior northern officers he had helped nurture in the early sixties, in whom he had placed so much trust over the years. In addition to the controversial 1983 elections, they claimed they were motivated to take over to stop corruption and economic mismanagement on the part of civilians. However, unconfirmed reports claim that at least one of the military conspirators even obtained funding for the coup in part by selling import licenses obtained from Shagari's government and others were known to have lifted oil from time to time. Other reports pointed at financial contributions from a prominent Yoruba politician who was dissatisfied with his chances of becoming the ruling party's Presidential candidate.

psychalade:
You are just full of hate for PMB

Just unalloyed hatred for Buhari. You put Buhari's name as number 1 participant in the 1983 coup, but you did not state his actual participation in the coup.
You are quoting unverified sources and Wikipedia which anyone can write or edit as your source.

Your only "proof that Buhari was number 1 participant in the coup is the alleged testimony of one Major Bamidele, who was killed more than 30years ago, that he informed Buhari about the coup.
No other participant in the coup had ever mentioned Buhari. Even IBB who has a no love lost relationship with Buhari mentioned Buhari as a participant in the coup in his numerous interviews and books.

OK, Buhari planned and executed the 1983 coup, what do you want us do do? Try and execute him?
What of all the other retired generals that had planned, executed and allegedly heard of an impending coup in the past that litter our political space,, should they all be arrested and executed also

If Shagari had taken a look at Nigeria’s history books, he would have noticed that the country’s military coups have almost always been carried out by the same group of soldiers. The young NCOs and Lieutenants that blasted Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi from power in 1966, became Colonels that overthrew his successor General Gowon in 1975, and they became the Brigadiers and Major-Generals that overthrew Shagari. Had Shagari acted decisively early during his term and retired these men, his Government may have survived (the only notable senior officer retired by Shagari was Major-General Joe Garba – who had double crossed his own brother in law during a military coup in 1975). Oversight of history and military postings played a part in Shagari’s downfall. Had he, in his position as the Nigerian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief, paid more attention to sensitive military postings he would have noticed that many of the officers who took part in the coup were stationed in or in close proximity to the country’s commercial nerve centre in Lagos. Among the plotters stationed in Lagos were the army’s Director of Staff Duties and Plans: Major-General Ibrahim Babangida, the Military Secretary: Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, and a hitherto unknown brigade commander called Brigadier Sani Abacha.

Up till the time of the coup, Buhari had been the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division in Jos. The disciplined, tough and stoic Brigadier (later Major-General) Tunde Idiagbon, was appointed as the Chief of Staff at Supreme Headquarters. Having neutralised the incumbent Chief of Army Staff – Lt-General Mohammed Wushishi, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida became the new Chief of Army Staff and de facto number three in the new regime. Wushishi was a symbol of the remarkable reconciliation that had occurred in Nigeria after the civil war of 1967-1970. At the end of the war in early 1970, Wushishi had entertained Conrad Nwawo (a leading officer on the opposing side) as his “guest of honour” at Onitsha barracks.



The new military regime suspended several parts of the constitution (primarily those relating to freedom of assembly, association and political activity), banned party politics, declared all borders closed, and began to arrest and detain ministers and officials from Shagari’s Government on charges of corruption and embezzlement.



WAR AGAINST INDISCIPLINE


Buhari and Idiagbon correctly identified corruption and indiscipline as the main constraints on Nigeria’s development. These twin evils have in the view of many, become a way of life for many Nigerians. For this reason, they launched a nationwide campaign called “War Against Indiscipline” (“WAI”). The WAI campaign was aimed at tackling the most anti-social Nigerian characteristics such as indiscipline, corruption, and lack of environmental sanitation. Nigerians learned and grudgingly accepted social behaviour that was the norm in other countries around the world. Queuing suddenly became all the rage in Nigeria! Buhari and Idiagbon understood that the undisciplined Nigerian psyche was not going to change by persuasion and that their WAI campaign had to backed by the threat of force. Although they had always cried out for a Government that would root out the rampant indiscipline in Nigeria, white collar workers were irked when they learned that the WAI campaign would lead to them being punished and that it would apply to them as well as the rest of “ordinary” Nigerians.



Corruption



There had been widespread allegations of corruption against many members of Shagari’s government. For this reason, military tribunals were set up to try ministers in Shagari’s administration that had been accused of embezzling public funds. These tribunals were chaired by military officers and had the power to impose massive prison sentences. The only right of appeal from the tribunals was to the SMC which was also exclusively comprised of military officers (and the Inspector-General of police). The military were effectively acting as prosecutor, judge and jury. Unsurprisingly the Nigerian Bar Association barred its member lawyers from participating in the tribunals. Undeterred, Buhari and Idiagbon pressed on with the tribunals and several prominent politicians were convicted of various corruption charges and given massive prison sentences ranging from twenty to over two hundred years. Given that most of the convicted were already over fifty years old, it was obvious that they would die in prison if they served the rest of their sentences. Among those convicted were prominent politicians such as Anthony Enahoro and Jim Nwobodo. The tribunals effectively put Nigeria’s political elite in jail.



Although the harsh sentences and nature of the tribunals were criticised, it is arguable that Nigeria needed these Nuremberg style trials in order to free itself from its corrupt past. The era of Buhari and Idiagbon was the first, and only time that Nigerian public officials were tried, and held accountable for their actions in office. The trials would have had more legitimacy if they had been held in civilian courts, presided over by civilian legal officers, and open to the public. This way Nigerians would have seen justice in action and had a chance to scrutinise the actions of their leaders who had so badly let them down and misused their resources. By virtue of their centrally regimented military training and outlook, Idiagbon and Buhari were fundamentally unable to grasp the niceties of, and the political legitimacy they could have derived from holding fair and open trials. The public fully backed their assault on the corrupt elite, if not their methods. The trials and WAI campaign also had a psychological impact on other “don’t know how he got rich” individuals in Nigeria. For the first time in Nigeria’s history it became unwise for those with ill gotten to flaunt their wealth – for fear of attracting the attention of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive.

The Press



The press had a field day under the civilian Government of Shagari. Freed by the absence of criticism-sensitive soldiers in Government, the press launched constant vitriolic attacks against public officials and often published articles that would not be tolerated in even the most liberal western democracy. The press quite literally abused the freedom given to it and the stinging criticism directed by the press actually resulted in some journalists being charged with sedition (inciting rebellion against the Government). As a reaction to this, on 1st January 1984 (day one of Buhari’s regime), the SMC promulgated Decree 4 of 1984: the Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree. Decree 4 made it a criminal offence to publish any article that brought the Government or any public official into disrepute. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh of The Guardian Newspapers were unfortunate enough to fall foul of Decree 4 and were imprisoned. Decree 4 was no doubt an overreaction by Buhari’s regime and strained relations between the FMG and the press.



THE BEGINNING OF THE END


While Buhari’s austere policies could be justified on the basis that he was battling against corruption and economic waste, his public relations machinery was poor. He made a number of strategic errors and failed to ingratiate himself with the mainly southern based print media. His regime was savaged by the press as a result (many of Nigeria’s print houses were then owned by the multi-billionaire businessman/politician: the late Moshood Abiola).



Loss of the South


There are several reasons for the Buhari’s loss of support in the south. Firstly, the governing National Party of Nigeria which Buhari replaced had a “zoning” system for key Government posts which provided that certain Government positions would be “zoned” or reserved to persons from certain geographic parts of the country. Since the presidency had been zoned to President Shagari (from the North), south-westerners logically thought that the presidency would be zoned to them when president Shagari completed his second and final term of office in 1987. They were wrong. One of those who hoped to benefit from the NPN’s zoning system was the multi-billionaire businessman, Moshood Abiola. Abiola assumed that when President Shagari’s term of office expired in 1987, the governing National Party of Nigeria (NPN) would “zone” the presidency to the south, and he would be allowed to run for president. How wrong he was. When Abiola articulated his presidential ambition, he was rebuffed by the powerful Transport Minister: Umaru Dikko, who told him that “the Presidency is not for sale to the highest bidder”. Abiola “retired” from politics soon after – totally exasperated with the NPN. Abiola was however to remerge from the shadows to play a key role in Nigeria’s political history.



The make up of Buhari’s SMC also troubled southerners. Virtually all of the senior positions in the SMC were occupied by northern Muslims: only five of the SMC’s sixteen members were from the south. Additionally, there has always been an unwritten rule that the Nigerian Head of State and his deputy cannot be from the same religion or part of the country. Buhari broke this unwritten rule when he appointed Tunde Idiagbon (who although Yoruba, was from the north and was also a Muslim). The other influential pro-Buhari figure in the regime was the Minister for Internal Affairs: Major-General Mohammed Magoro, who was a Muslim from Buhari’s home state of Sokoto. The lopsided ethno-religious composition of the SMC, coupled with the fact that Buhari’s ascension to power pre-empted the zoning of the presidency to the south prompted some mischievous southerners to claim that the New Year’s Eve coup was a deliberate plan to prevent the south from gaining political control of the country, and was nothing more than an orchestrated preservation of the north’s political control of Nigeria by transferring power from northern civilians to northern soldiers. The author personally believes that the personal ambition of the primary actors in the coup such as Babangida and Dogonyaro played the major motivating role for the coup rather than any Machiavellian plot to thwart the south (or any altruistic motives to benefit Nigeria as a whole). Nevertheless, southerners were irked by the perceived northern bias of Buhari’s regime.

Please reconcile these two conflicting statements;

when Major Bamidele got wind of the coup to oust Shagari, Bamidele reported the issue up the chain of command to his GOC 3rd Armored Division (Major General Buhari) who was allegedly in on the plot. To prevent Bamidele from leaking the plot, Buhari ordered the arrest and detention of Bamidele for 2 weeks. Bamidele wasn't released until the successful execution of the coup.

Colonel Aliyu Mohammed, both on friendly terms with the President, paid a long private visit to Shagari in late October or early November to pledge their loyalty. At that very moment, Major Bamidele of the 3rd Division was being detained and put through a trumped-up hearing after he innocently reported rumors of a coup to his boss, Brigadier Buhari in Jos.

With the civilian population powerless to terminate military rule, it was clear that only the military could do away with Buhari. From this perspective, the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida was his greatest threat. Babangida was a contrast to Buhari. While Buhari was stern, serious and resolute, Babangida was deft, tactical and extremely devious. He had systematically cultivated a loyal following of sycophantic mid-ranking officers over the years by making grandiose gestures and buying lavish presents for officers junior to him. These officers now owed allegiance to him rather than to their nation, institution, or to the Head of State Buhari. Babangida had managed to create a mini-personality cult within the military. It is amazing that Buhari, knowing Babangida’s ambition and propensity for coup plotting allowed him to sit with his finger on the trigger as the Chief of Army Staff for so long.



As the net of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive widened, the trail of investigations led back to the Ministry of Defence. There were allegations that senior army officers were involved in drug dealing and rumours of some suspicious financial dealings at the Defence Ministry. Some accusatory fingers were pointed at Babangida. Nigerians never did get to find out the extent or nature of the allegations as a coup led by Babangida swept Buhari away before matters could proceed further. Not long after Buhari was replaced by Babangida, a senior and well respected journalist (Dele Giwa) was killed by a parcel bomb while he was working on a story that accused senior army officers of involvement in drug dealing. Giwa’s murderers have never been found, although attempts have been made to prosecute Babangida, and two military intelligence officers: Colonel Tunde Togun and Brigadier Halilu Akilu, for his murder.

He is a known liar.
Only BMCs are deceived by the fake pronouncements of the lying coupist that can't own up to his misdeeds.

Can the OP-Storyteller please tell us the tole played by Aguniyi-Ironsi during the 1966 Coup without taking side....

THE COUP SPEECH THAT OVERTHREW BUHARI

I, Brigadier Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro, of the Nigerian Army, hereby make the following declaration on behalf of my colleagues and members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Fellow country men, the intervention of the military at the end of 1983 was welcomed by the nation with unprecedented enthusiasm. Nigerians were unified in accepting the intervention and looked forward hopefully to progressive changes for the better. Almost two years later, it has become clear that the fulfillment of expectations is not forthcoming.

Because this generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country but Nigeria, we could not stay passive and watch a small group of individuals misuse power to the detriment of our national aspirations and interest.

No nation can ever achieve meaningful strides in its development where there is an absence of cohesion in the hierarchy of government; where it has become clear that positive action by the policy makers is hindered because as a body it lacks a unity of purpose.

It is evident that the nation would be endangered with the risk of continuous misdirection. We are presently confronted with that danger. In such a situation, if action can be taken to arrest further damage, it should and must be taken. This is precisely what we have done.

The Nigerian public has been made to believe that the slow pace of action of the Federal Government headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was due to the enormity of the problems left by the last civilian administration.

Although it is true that a lot of problems were left behind by the last civilian government, the real reason, however, for the very slow pace of action is due to lack of unanimity of purpose among the ruling body; subsequently, the business of governance has gradually been subjected to ill-motivated power play considerations. The ruling body, the Supreme Military Council, has, therefore, progressively been made redundant by the actions of a select few members charged with the day-to-day implementation of the SMC’s policies and decision.

The concept of collective leadership has been substituted by stubborn and illadvised unilateral actions, thereby destroying the principles upon which the government came to power. Any effort made to advise the leadership, met with stubborn resistance and was viewed as a challenge to authority or disloyalty.

Thus, the scene was being set for systematic elimination of what, was termed oppositions. All the energies of the rulership were directed at this imaginary opposition rather than to effective leadership.

The result of this misdirected effort is now very evident in the country as a whole. The government has started to drift. The economy does not seem to be getting any better as we witness daily increased inflation.

The nation’s meager resources are once again being wasted on unproductive ventures. Government has distanced itself from the people and the yearnings and aspirations of the people as constantly reflected in the media have been ignored.

This is because a few people have arrogated to themselves the right to make the decisions for the larger part of the ruling body. All these events have shown that the present composition of our country’s leadership cannot, therefore, justify its continued occupation of that position.

Furthermore, the initial objectives and programmes of action which were meant to have been implemented since the ascension to power of the Buhari Administration in January 1984 have been betrayed and discarded. The present state of uncertainty and stagnation cannot be permitted to degenerate into suppression and retrogression.

We feel duty bound to use the resources and means at our disposal to restore hope in the minds of Nigerians and renew aspirations for a better future. We are no prophets of doom for our beloved country, Nigeria. We, therefore, count on everyone’s cooperation and assistance.

I appeal to you, fellow countrymen, particularly my colleagues in arms to refrain from any act that will lead to unnecessary violence and bloodshed among us. Rest assured that our action is in the interest of the nation and the armed forces.

In order to enable a new order to be introduced, the following bodies are dissolved forthwith pending further announcements: (a) The Supreme Military Council (b) The Federal Executive Council (c) The National Council of States. All seaports and airports are closed, all borders remain closed.

Finally, a dusk to dawn curfew is hereby imposed in Lagos and all state capitals until further notice. All military commanders will ensure effective maintenance of law and order. Further announcements will be made in due course. God bless Nigeria.

seanfer:
Can the OP-Storyteller please tell us the tole played by Aguniyi-Ironsi during the 1966 Coup without taking side....

They will not be able to, they too bigoted to attempt. It is confirmed this ones will perish in bigotry.

seanfer:
Can the OP-Storyteller please tell us the tole played by Aguniyi-Ironsi during the 1966 Coup without taking side....

Your knowledge of history is really poor.
He is discussing 1983-1985, but your biased mind is focused on 1966.
That's another chapter,and you can as well research and write that one yourself.
Even if you didn't go to school, you should learn from others, and not come here to confuse yourself!

naijaking1:


Your knowledge of history is really poor.
He is discussing 1983-1985, but your biased mind is focused on 1966.
That's another chapter,and you can as well research and write that one yourself.
Even if you didn't go to school, you should learn from others, and not come here to confuse yourself!

As usual you people always choose what favours your arguments.. My question is that Would there have been coups in the country if what happened in 1966 didn’t happened? Without past there can never be present....