nku5:


Ademoyega in his book confirmed that the coup was supposed to take place later in the year but he found out from H.O. Davies that Sardauna, Balewa and Akintola were planning a very bloody crackdown on the Western Region and the Middle Belt. They then rushed their plans and staged it on January 15

If this is true then the real threat to the igbo nation is not the north. I am still trying to figure out what was the real mind set of igbos who carried the January 15 coup, was it naivety or patriotism or they were simply fooled into it and betrayed

It seems the igbos were betrayed 3 times by the same judas

kettykin:

If this is true then the real threat to the igbo nation is not the north. I am still trying to figure out what was the real mind set of igbos who carried the January 15 coup, was it naivety or patriotism or they were simply fooled into it and betrayed

No, these were young revolutionary minded men with socialist leaning. Major Ademoyega said as much in his book. Major Ifeajuna was infact a fiery Students Union leader at the University of Ibadan who led protests against the school authorities over the closure of an hostel and against the visits of the Queen to Nigeria.
But the coup lacked poor execution outside the North. Nzeogwu was a tactical officer, he did his job well and infact practiced for it for weeks under the guise of routine military practice; the others failed to properly carry out their orders. Their biggest mistake was
1) Not arresting the head of the Army: General Ironsi which allowed him rally against the coupists and also made the North think it was an Ibo coup with no blood shed in the East and no Ibo military or civilian leader killed. IT WAS NOT AN IBO COUP.
2) Unnecessary bloodshed.

Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh arrested whilst wearing only a wrapper.
He was driven around in a vehicle with the bodies of 3 military officers: Brigadier Mai-Malari, Col. Mohammed, Lt. Col. Pam and Lt. Col. Unegbe.

Killed in cold blood according to the Police Special Branch Report.

[b]Major Anuforo then ordered the four corpses to be unloaded onto the road. The bodies were then carried into the bush on the left hand side of the road. Major Anuforo then observed FS Okotie-Eboh still seated in the truck and asked the question: "Who is that man"?, which leads to the belief that, until then, Anuforo was unaware of the presence of Okotie-Eboh in the truck. The Finance Minister replied "I am Okotie-Eboh". Major Anuforo then ordered the Minister to step down. The latter complied, whereupon Major Anuforo informed him that he was going to be shot. The Minister commenced to plead for his life. This met with little or no response from Anuforo who is reported as having confined himself to stating that he was acting under orders. The Minister was then forced to go into the bush, pushed along by Major Anuforo and Major Ademoyega and followed by 2/Lt Igweze and Sgt. Ndukaife to the spot where the bodies of the 4 senior officers had been deposited. Arriving there, without hesitation, Major Anuforo killed Okotie-Eboh with a short burst from his SMG.[/b]

Garbage thread. OP, pathetic effort at revising history to try and launder the image of the Igbos.

Nzeogwu coup was indeed an Igbo coup. Stop the shameless revisionism. What happened then that is not happening today?

Do Igbos not remain the same people who, day in and day out, demonize and attack the leaders of others while shielding and praising their own leaders?

It really is amusing to always be reminded that dishonesty, deciet and dishonor is actually in the core nature of most Igbos.

V7place:


No, these were young revolutionary minded men with socialist leaning. Major Ademoyega said as much in his book. Major Ifeajuna was infact a fiery Students Union leader at the University of Ibadan who led protests against the school authorities over the closure of an hostel and against the visits of the Queen to Nigeria.
But the coup lacked poor execution outside the North. Nzeogwu was a tactical officer, he did his job well and infact practiced for it for weeks under the guise of routine military practice; the others failed to properly carry out their orders. Their biggest mistake was
1) Not arresting the head of the Army: General Ironsi which allowed him rally against the coupists and also made the North think it was an Ibo coup with no blood shed in the East and no Ibo military or civilian leader killed. IT WAS NOT AN IBO COUP.
2) Unnecessary bloodshed.

Ok thank you for the explanation but lt col unegbe who was killed by the coupist is igbo . So the case of no igbo casualties in the coup is not correct

kettykin:

Ok thank you for the explanation but lt col unegbe who was killed by the coupist is igbo . So the case of no igbo casualties in the coup is not correct

On that point you maybe right; I thought he was Middle Belt or Delta. Like many people still think Gideon Orkar , face of the 1990 coup is Ibo, when he actually was from Benue or Dele Giwa is Yoruba, when he was from Edo.

Grayoso:
Garbage thread. OP, pathetic effort at revising history to try and launder the image of the Igbos.

Nzeogwu coup was indeed an Igbo coup. Stop the shameless revisionism. What happened then that is not happening today?

Do Igbos not remain the same people who, day in and day out, demonize and attack the leaders of others while shielding and praising their own leaders?

It really is amusing to always be reminded that dishonesty, deciet and dishonor is actually in the core nature of most Igbos.

Thank you for your contribution.

kettykin:
If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

I am aware of all these, but for the sake of peace in this forum, I controlled my fingers.

V7place:


Thank you for your contribution.

My pleasure.

V7place:
January 15th 1966: The Day Nigeria Changed Forever
Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was just 29 years of age when he changed Nigeria forever along with his friends and fellow soldiers notably Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Adewale Ademoyega with whom he formed the core 3 and with whom we call the 5 Majors.
The coup was excessively bloody and many of the victims were killed in cold bold, some after being held captive whilst witnessing the killing of others.

FACTS About the January 15th 1966 Coup
1) It was a Nigeria’s first coup and was intended to be a revolutionary one.
2) Many have labeled the coup tribalist favoring Ibos, but while almost all the officers except one were Ibo; it was a Yoruba man Chief Obafemi Awolowo they wanted to make Prime Minister to share power with them.
3) Captain Ude was given the assignment to go to Calabar to release Chief Awolowo from prison; the Captain was arrested in the process of doing this.
4) The coup was 100% successful in the Northern Region and was in fact executed by troops of Northern origin supervised by Major Nzeogwu. It was in Kaduna, that he made his broadcast to the nation.
5) The failure of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna to arrest the head of the army Major General Aguyi Ironsi led to the collapse of the coup.
6) No politician or civilian leader was killed in the Eastern part of the country which gave rise to the belief that it was an Ibo coup. But this was probably more to do with the fact that all those who were killed were members of or aligned with the central government and not an issue of tribe.
7) The killing of the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was especially gory and tragic. He had been arrested in the early hours of the morning and detained in a military truck that was driving around Lagos and present day Ogun state. Those in charge of keeping him battled with increasing confusing as to what to do with him since apparently the coup was failing in Lagos. By early evening, when it was apparent Ironsi had captured Lagos from them; they simply took the Prime Minister and 3 of his Ministers out of the truck and executed them in cold blood.
Seeing the collapse. Major Ifejuna escaped to Ghana where he was given a Presidential welcome by Kwame Nkrumah who was an ally of Awolowo and disliked the Balewa governent. Months later, Nkrumah himself was overthrown and Ifejuna extradited to Nigeria.
9) Major Ifejuna aside from being a soldier, was also a leading athlete and represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth games where he won a gold medal.
10) Major Adewale Ademoyega was the only non Ibo officer among the coupists. He was jailed along with other coupists by the Gowon government after the civil war the civil and only released in 1974 along with 20 others after Tai Solarin and students of the University of Ibadan protested.
11) Those jailed in Eastern Nigeria by General Ironsi wee released by Colonel Ojukwu and ended up fighting for Biafra. Nzeogwu believed in one Nigeria and wanted to cross to the Federal side, but Gowon wouldn’t let him; Ojukwu was afraid of him and never gave him troops to command. He was killed in action fighting on the Biafra side on July 29, 1967 in Nsukka; nonetheless Federal troops took his body to Lagos and he was buried with national honors in Kaduna, where he was born.
12) Dr. Tai Solarin kept Nzeowgu’s siblings safe during the civil war at Mayflower School, Ikenne. The south entrance to the Mayflower School complex is named after Nzeowgu.
13) Major Ifejuna was executed on September 25, 1967 by General Ojowku for allegedly plotting to overthrow him. Ifejuna like Nzeowgu believed in one Nigeria and along with Major Victor Banjo wanted to advance Biafra troops to Lagos and overthrow Gowon. They actually got to Ore after taking Benin but were ordered to stop .
14) Major Olusegun Obasanjo arrive from India from a military course on January 16th 1966, a day after the coup. He in fact slept on the top bed of the bunk bed where Nzeowgu slept that night. Both men were friends and its very possible, Obasanjo would have joined the coupists if he had been in the country during the planning.
15) On January 17, 1966 after governing Nigeria (albeit Northern Nigeria) for 2 days; Major Nzeowgu flew to Lagos and was arrested by troops loyal to the new military government headed by Major General Aguyi Ironsi.

Source: https://v7place.com/index.php?topic=1900.0

Very interesting.

kettykin:

If this is true then the real threat to the igbo nation is not the north. I am still trying to figure out what was the real mind set of igbos who carried the January 15 coup, was it naivety or patriotism or they were simply fooled into it and betrayed

It's true o. Sardauna planned to use the Army to level the Western region and kill intellectuals like Tai Solarin

nku5:


It's true o. Sardauna planned to use the Army to level the Western region and kill intellectuals like Tai Solarin

I remember now! Thanks for this. This is Why We Struck?
I read this book years and years ago when I was probably 12 years old. Especially the Tai Solarin part!

Whilst not excusing the killings, maybe this is why they did it.

nku5:


Ademoyega in his book confirmed that the coup was supposed to take place later in the year but he found out from H.O. Davies that Sardauna, Balewa and Akintola were planning a very bloody crackdown on the Western Region and the Middle Belt. They then rushed their plans and staged it on January 15

All this half stories with no proof....

Awolowo was intended to be head of government...who read the mindset of the plotters

The coup was successful in the North's and the west but no one died in the east....

The plot to kill aquiyi ironsi failed just like the plot to free Awolowo...

Aquiyi ironsi became the head of state and refused to deal with the coup plotters

Aquiyi ironsi as head of state promoted new officers to fill the void of the fallen once...70% was Igbos.

Aquiyi ironsi enacted a decree to remove power from the region's and give power to the state...

Aquiyi ironsi actions was supported by eastern officers only including Ojukwu...


All this half truth will not help anybody

I blame the useless Akintola that allowed himself to be used for mere political power,
A whole AARE ONAKAKANFO conspiring against his own people!!
Their personal ambition always supercedes their regions,
People like him always seem to end terribly,

V7place:


I remember now! Thanks for this. This is Why We Struck?
I read this book years and years ago when I was probably 12 years old. Especially the Tai Solarin part!

Whilst not excusing the killings, maybe this is why they did it.

The coup itself was to prevent greater evil. If they were more mature I am sure they wouldn't have killed people. They were just boys at the end of the day

Brilliant.

nku5:


Very correct o. Coups by Generals are more successful.Orkar's coup might have worked if not that they were all very high on cocaine and failed to seize Abacha who mobilised and countered

abacha is the only soldier to have participated in every successful coup in nigeria including the 66 counter coup. Had orkar had abacha on his side who knows...

dele1727:



All this half stories with no proof....

Awolowo was intended to be head of government...who read the mindset of the plotters



The plot to kill aquiyi ironsi failed just like the plot to free Awolowo...


All this half truth will not help anybody

Those two I can answer.

1) Awolowo was intended to be head of government...who read the mindset of the plotters: No one read their mind, they revealed it themselves. They were all alive for several years after the coup; some even still alive till today.

2) The plot to kill aquiyi ironsi failed just like the plot to free Awolowo: The officer given the job to arrest Ironsi incompetently delayed allowing Ironsi to escape and rallied loyal troops. Captain Ude flew to Calabar, got to the prisons-and was arrested at the prison.

Grayoso:
Garbage thread. OP, pathetic effort at revising history to try and launder the image of the Igbos.

Nzeogwu coup was indeed an Igbo cou[/b]p. Stop the shameless revisionism. What happened then that is not happening today?

Do Igbos not remain the same people who, [b]day in and day out, demonize and attack the leaders of others while shielding and praising their own leaders?

It really is amusing to always be reminded that dishonesty, deciet and dishonor is actually in the core nature of most Igbos.

Stop this your senseless attache by force.

Kaduna was from Niger delta.

V7place:
Brig. Zakariya Maimalari. Escaped when the coupists invaded his house and tried to arrest him. He fled by foot and when he saw Major Ifeajuna, he was relived at seeing his subordinate, The Brigadier beckoned to the Major who got down from his vehicle and executed his superior officer.

What the hell got into this boys to carry ur such a useless massacre

kettykin:
If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

They won't mind their business because they are always looking for the destruction of Nigeria, hence we will always hold them responsible

Chief Remi Fani Kayode (father of Femi Fani Kayode) was Deputy Premier of the Western Region. He was arrested and made to lead the coupists to the government house. His wife called the Premier, Chief Akintola to warn him that soldiers were on the way to arrest him.

Chief Fani-Kayode witnessed the killing of his friend S.L. Akintola by the mutineers, and from there he was taken to the military cantonment in Lagos where he was also scheduled to be executed by them. However, luckily for him, on arrival at the Ikeja military cantonment in Lagos, the mutineers were overpowered, overwhelmed and killed by loyalist troops under the command of Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon (who later became Nigeria's Head of State). Fani-Kayode was freed by the loyalists and kept by them in a safe house until law and order was restored in the country. ( Wikipedia)

amuwo1980:

What the hell got into this boys to carry ur such a useless massacre

Much as I like Nzeogwu and his boys; the massacare was in my opnion uncalled. If it was a gun fight, it would make sense, but cold bloodied killings of civilians and a woman.

V7place:


No, these were young revolutionary minded men with socialist leaning. Major Ademoyega said as much in his book. Major Ifeajuna was infact a fiery Students Union leader at the University of Ibadan who led protests against the school authorities over the closure of an hostel and against the visits of the Queen to Nigeria.
But the coup lacked poor execution outside the North. Nzeogwu was a tactical officer, he did his job well and infact practiced for it for weeks under the guise of routine military practice; the others failed to properly carry out their orders. Their biggest mistake was
1) Not arresting the head of the Army: General Ironsi which allowed him rally against the coupists and also made the North think it was an Ibo coup with no blood shed in the East and no Ibo military or civilian leader killed. IT WAS NOT AN IBO COUP.
2) Unnecessary bloodshed.

Brilliant perspective and well aligned post you came up with. You did your research well.
But let me make a few additions.
1. Nzeogwu actually planned to kill Aguyi Ironsi in the coup. But some of the Coupist ( Likely Ifejuna) who were to carry out the operation in Lagos either fail to kill Ironsi OR deliberately tipped him off. While some record has it that Ironsi escaped from attacks in his house and hide in Police HQ, from where he fought back, other records say Ifejuna was against the killing of Ironsi and deliberately failed to carry out that order.
2. Perhaps, the Nzeogwu coup would have been widely accepted and celebrated ( the Nigerian populace were aactually angry with the massive corruption of the civilian govt) but for the fact that the coupist killed prominent Northern Officials and the highest serving Northern Military Officer - Maimalari (over 75% of the death toll was Northerners) giving it an ethnic coloration most especially as rumours began to fill out that Nnamdi Azikiwe was tipped off by the IBO and had fore knowledge of the coup and told to leave the country before the coup. These facts gave rise to mutinies by Northern soldiers in Lagos and many parts of the country.
3. Operation Damissa - was a Tactical Military Exercise in Kaduna led by Major Nzeogwu, it was strongly alleged that the Military exercise provided the platform through which most of the coupists were recruited. Fajuyi was one of the key instructors of the Military Exercise. And it has been strongly adduced that Fajuyi was arrested and killed alongside Ironsi because the Northern Soldiers were convinced he knew about the Nzeogwu coup and might have possibly instrumental to it.
While many records has it that Fajuyi submitted himself to be arrested and killed alongside Ironsi, other new records and perspectives have opined that Fajuyis death can be strongly linked to Operation Damissa thru which Nzeogwu recruited the coupists.

Liposure:
abacha is the only soldier that participated in every successful coup in nigeria including the 66 counter coup. Had orkar had abacha on his side who knows...

Thats why he was so paranoid when he became Head of State. The Orkar coup was done with the aim of excising Northern Nigeria from the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria so Abacha could never have joined them.

Col R.A. Shodeinde.

From The Police Special Branch Report

By this time the Colonel was awake and sitting up in bed. Mrs. Shodeinde started to cry and beg for her life. Nzeogwu assured her that they had not come to kill her but her husband the Colonel. When she continued shouting, the other soldiers shot at her legs, wounding her several times.

165. Major Nzeogwu and the others then commenced firing at the Colonel whilst still in bed, who fell down dead or dying by the side of the bed. Mrs. Shodeinde then fled from the room and ran for shelter to the servant's quarters where she remained until the attackers left.

CharleyBright:


Brilliant perspective and well aligned post you came up with. You did your research well.
But let me make a few additions.
1. Nzeogwu actually planned to kill Aguyi Ironsi in the coup. But some of the Coupist ( Likely Ifejuna) who were to carry out the operation in Lagos either fail to kill Ironsi OR deliberately tipped him off. While some record has it that Ironsi escaped from attacks in his house and hide in Police HQ, from where he fought back, other records say Ifejuna was against the killing of Ironsi and deliberately failed to carry out that order.
2. Perhaps, the Nzeogwu coup would have been widely accepted and celebrated ( the Nigerian populace were aactually angry with the massive corruption of the civilian govt) but for the fact that the coupist killed prominent Northern Officials and the highest serving Northern Military Officer - Maimalari (over 75% of the death toll was Northerners) giving it an ethnic coloration most especially as rumours began to fill out that Nnamdi Azikiwe was tipped off by the IBO and had fore knowledge of the coup and told to leave the country before the coup. These facts gave rise to mutinies by Northern soldiers in Lagos and many parts of the country.
3.

You are 100% right. Nzeogwu was the only who carried out his mission as agreed. Ifeajuna failed in Lagos, thats why the coup failed. Just like the failure to arrest Abacha was in part why the 1990 coup failed. IBB for example knew they could [b]NOT [/b]arrest Idiagbon without a fight that would cost lives, thats why he made sure Idiagbon went for the Hajj. Buhari, they knew was a gentleman.

Northerners initially supported the coup, people were happy on the streets; but in the days after the leaders began to let people know that as you rightly pointed out majority of deaths were northerners killed by Ibos ( which wasnt 100% true as some of the foot soldiers used in the North were Northerners.)

Akintola fought back with a gun, the Sardauna equally fought back with a gun; but the gentleman Prime Minister did not. His death was in my opinion uncalled for. He was one of the first arrested and he cooperated.

From The Police Special Branch Report

The time was about 0400 hrs. Major Ifeajuna drove away on to the Abeokuta road. On the way they stopped and Ifeajuna asked the PM out of the car whence he shot and killed him. When he and Okafor became certain that the PM was dead they left the body in the bush at a point beyond Otta on the Lagos to Abeokuta road. They then opened the boot of the car and dropped the body of Lt. Col. Largema near that of the PM. They then drove on to Abeokuta. On the way after Abeokuta two other soldiers in the car were dropped and told to find their way back to Lagos whilst Ifeajuna and Okafor proceeded to Enugu. They arrived Enugu at about 1415 hours and proceeded to the Premier's Lodge where they held discussion with Dr. MI Okpara, then Premier of Eastern region, after which they separated and went into hiding. Ifeajuna eventually escaped to Ghana where he was received by the former President Kwame Nkrumah who sent him to Winneba to stay with SG Ikoku.

kettykin:

Ok thank you for the explanation but lt col unegbe who was killed by the coupist is igbo . So the case of no igbo casualties in the coup is not correct

Records has it that Col Unegbe was killed because he had refused to support the coup.