₦airaland Forum

THE BETRAYAL OF BRIGADIER ZAKARIYA MAIMALARI: NIGERIA’S FORGOTTEN GENERAL

On a warm January evening in 1966, Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari Nigeria’s highest-ranking Northern officer hosted a grand wedding party at his Ikoyi residence. The air was filled with celebration; dignitaries and military elites toasted his new marriage, unaware that beneath the music and laughter, a silent storm brewed. Among the smiling faces was Captain Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Maimalari’s own aide-de-camp, who had personally planned the festivities. But as guests danced and drank, a group of officers conspired nearby to upend the nation. And Zakariya, the groom and the general, stood unknowingly in the eye of the coming storm.

Maimalari’s journey to that fateful night began in a small village in present-day Yobe State. Born in 1930, he rose from humble beginnings to become one of the first Nigerians trained at the prestigious Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK. Over the years, his discipline and intellect earned him promotions, accolades, and command over key military units. Yet, his rapid ascent and his Northern identity made him a target in an increasingly fractured Nigeria, where ethnic and regional tensions simmered beneath the surface of the First Republic.

By late 1965, Nigeria teetered on the edge. Political corruption, failed elections, and deepening ethnic mistrust created a fertile ground for dissent within the military. Young Southern officers, frustrated by what they saw as Northern dominance, quietly organized a coup. Though Maimalari had never been overtly political, his status made him a prime symbol of the system they sought to dismantle. The final plan would unfold just hours after his wedding celebration his own ADC, Ifeajuna, playing a central role.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pch6BF8zRk

When the shooting began in the early hours of January 15, Maimalari’s instincts as a soldier kicked in. Alerted by a trembling phone call, he slipped barefoot into the night, evading gunfire and hiding in gardens. For hours, he moved through Ikoyi, desperate to reach the barracks and rally loyal forces. Then came the tragic twist: spotting Ifeajuna’s familiar car, Maimalari approached with hope. But inside was another captive Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. Too late, he realized the betrayal. Ifeajuna raised his pistol, and with a final, chilling order “Say your last prayers” he ended the life of the very man he once served.

The assassination of Brigadier Maimalari marked a brutal turning point in Nigerian history. His murder, along with other Northern leaders, ignited suspicions of an ethnically driven coup, deepening the North-South divide and setting the stage for a devastating civil war. Though a barracks bears his name today, Maimalari’s story remains largely forgotten a stark reminder of how power, loyalty, and betrayal often collide in silence before history erupts. His life, and the tragedy that ended it, still echo in the heart of a nation searching for unity.

Good one

The man go think say Nigeria don improve

Emmanuel is a man with the balls.........Balls of steel for that matter


I hope Emmy himself is still breathing??

He was one of the finest northern officers then. May his soul continue to RIP.

Depriest2020:
He was one of the finest northern officers then. May his soul continue to RIP.

Exactly and also highly educated.

emmy512:
Good one

Thanks

Major Donatus Okafor who led the original attack on Mailami's home was investigated and found culpable of theft and was facing a court martial until Maimalari intervened and had the whole issue buried.

Okafor had been embezzling the NCO mess funds.

Same Okafor had said he was part of the coup to end corruption in high places.

GOFRONT:
Emmanuel is a man with the balls.........Balls of steel for that matter


I hope Emmy himself is still breathing??

You do know that your ojukwu had your Emma executed for treason ?

You d know that Ifeanjuna had began secretly negotiating with Nigerian side and that he never wanted Biafra .

You do know that ifeanjuna was moe in the camp of Zik and wanted the coup to enthrone IBO leadership over the polity and did not believe in Biafra?

Odey1997:
Exactly and also highly educated.

When are you going to write about the first coup in Nigerias history, the Awolowos coup, for which he was dutifully convicted and sentenced to jail at Calabar prisons before Ojukwu released his sorry ass?

How about Oladipo Diyas coup, for which he was effectively sentenced to death before Abachas sudden death spared him?
The way you guys spin history, many who read you will think that The Jan 1966 coup was the first in Nigerias history. The southwest media has connived to brush off Awolowos coup of 1963.

Dude plotted a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, simply because he was in the opposition. He was caught. He was thoroughly investigated. Then tried in the southwest by a fellow Yoruba judge. He was found guilty of plotting a violent take over of the government, and was summarily sentenced to jail.

In todays Nigeria, Awolowo will be summarily executed at the bar beach because he committed treason!
It is important to always mention these facts whenever we are discussing about coups in Nigeria, because it was Awolowo that actually brought the thinking of coup plotting into Nigerias political lexicon..

owobokiri:
When are you going to write about the first coup in Nigerias history, the Awolowos coup, for which he was dutifully convicted and sentenced to jail at Calabar prisons before Ojukwu released his sorry ass?

How about Oladipo Diyas coup, for which he was effectively sentenced to death before Abachas sudden death spared him?
The way you guys spin history, many who read you will think that The Jan 1966 coup was the first in Nigerias history. The southwest media has connived to brush off Awolowos coup of 1963.

Dude plotted a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, simply because he was in the opposition. He was caught. He was thoroughly investigated. Then tried in the southwest by a fellow Yoruba judge. He was found guilty of plotting a violent take over of the government, and was summarily sentenced to jail.

In todays Nigeria, Awolowo will be summarily executed at the bar beach because he committed treason!
It is important to always mention these facts whenever we are discussing about coups in Nigeria, because it was Awolowo that actually brought the thinking of coup plotting into Nigerias political lexicon..

I'll dissect all of that in my next series.... This particular one is focused on Nigeria's first 30 COMMISSIONED MILITARY OFFICERS.

DomPerignon:
Major Donatus Okafor who led the original attack on Mailami's home was investigated and found culpable of theft and was facing a court martial until Maimalari intervened and had the whole issue buried.

Okafor had been embezzling the NCO mess funds.

Same Okafor had said he was part of the coup to end corruption in high places.

You can still see that treacherous pattern in the character all of them. They accuse you of any crime they themselves are neck-deep into.

For instance, they call Tinubu a drug Lord but every household in their region has atleast one or more drug-peddlers serving time in prisons overseas for drug-trafficking.

Once you see any one of them accusing anybody of anything, just know at the back of your mind that they themselves are already 7000 kilometers ahead of the person they are accusing of the crime.

They want to copy and employ the propaganda tactics of Adolf Hitler (by accusing their adversaries of crimes they themselves are guilty of) but the nonentities forget that this is 2025 where everybody has access to every historical books and tactics.

If una like spin 1960s narratives today na una matter. Na tinubu administration concern me






Wetin man go chop this morning sef 🥱🥱

Elections are near. Sponsored propagandists spinning ethnic division by spurning stories to fit that narrative... But we see u a mile away

owobokiri:
Dude plotted a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, simply because he was in the opposition. He was caught. He was thoroughly investigated. Then tried in the southwest by a fellow Yoruba judge. He was found guilty of plotting a violent take over of the government, and was summarily sentenced to jail.

Source of your story or STFU

Difrent:
Source of your story or STFU

Ask your kids in primary school to teach you how to Google..

owobokiri:
When are you going to write about the first coup in Nigerias history, the Awolowos coup, for which he was dutifully convicted and sentenced to jail at Calabar prisons before Ojukwu released his sorry ass?

How about Oladipo Diyas coup, for which he was effectively sentenced to death before Abachas sudden death spared him?
The way you guys spin history, many who read you will think that The Jan 1966 coup was the first in Nigerias history. The southwest media has connived to brush off Awolowos coup of 1963.

Dude plotted a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, simply because he was in the opposition. He was caught. He was thoroughly investigated. Then tried in the southwest by a fellow Yoruba judge. He was found guilty of plotting a violent take over of the government, and was summarily sentenced to jail.

In todays Nigeria, Awolowo will be summarily executed at the bar beach because he committed treason!
It is important to always mention these facts whenever we are discussing about coups in Nigeria, because it was Awolowo that actually brought the thinking of coup plotting into Nigerias political lexicon..

If I recall very well, Awo stood trial for tressonabkr felony and was accused of plotting a coup and in his trial only Awp stood accused. No co-defendant and not one single military officer was indicted or court martialed for planning and conspiring to overthrow the government.

How is that possible ?

Does it make sense that only one individual will stand trial for attempting to overthrow the government without any coconspirators and military participants ?

The Awo coup trial was an orchestrated setup to get rid of Awolowo.

It never happened and even in the trial , the prosecution only relied on a secretly recorded conversation between Awo and his loyalists discussing on the state of affairs of the country and the main discission was drifting towards Western Nigeria secceding from the union.

Thatscnot a coup to overthrow the government .

DomPerignon:
If I recall very well, Awo stood trial for tressonabkr felony and was accused of plotting a coup and in his trial only Awp stood accused. No co-defendant and not one single military officer was indicted or court martialed for planning and conspiring to overthrow the government.

How is that possible ?

Does it make sense that only one individual will stand trial for attempting to overthrow the government without any coconspirators and military participants ?

The Awo coup trial was an orchestrated setup to get rid of Awolowo.

It never happened and even in the trial , the prosecution only relied on a secretly recorded conversation between Awo and his loyalists discussing on the state of affairs of the country and the main discission was drifting towards Western Nigeria secceding from the union.

Thatscnot a coup to overthrow the government .

Was he ever convicted by a well constituted court for treason? In a court right there in the South west that has a Yoruba as the judge?
That is the question..
Answer that!
You lack both the legal and intellectual gravitas to question the verdict of a well constituted court.., especially these days you rigmarole online defending the ridiculous judgements being churned out by all sorts APCs courts..
Was your "great" Awo an ex convict!?? That is an ex convict of coup plotting?

owobokiri:
Ask your kids in primary school to teach you how to Google..

Nothing like this happened, not even google could find anything like that. Accept you lied and if you say otherwise provide proof or link

Difrent:
Nothing like this happened, not even google could find anything like that. Accept you lied and if you say otherwise provide proof or link

Lied about what?

Maimalari is not forgotten

There is a barracks named after him Maiduguri

It shall never be well with Awolowo for sponsoring 1966 coup to destabilize Nigerian democracy

DomPerignon:
Major Donatus Okafor who led the original attack on Mailami's home was investigated and found culpable of theft and was facing a court martial until Maimalari intervened and had the whole issue buried.

Okafor had been embezzling the NCO mess funds.

Same Okafor had said he was part of the coup to end corruption in high places.

The typical developer. Coward that will call others cowards. Corrupt that will call others corrupt. Betrayer that will wail that others are betrayers. Hypocrisy is one of the pillars of their culture.

genkins:
Elections are near. Sponsored propagandists spinning ethnic division by spurning stories to fit that narrative... But we see u a mile away

Spinning? Was Maimalari not shot by ifeajuna? Or maybe Maimalari died of old age, and these tribalists are trying to pin his death on an innocent ibo guy to trigger ethnic tensions?

Difrent:
Source of your story or STFU

He picked it from his head. Developers are experts at thinking sh*t in their head and believing it. It's entertaining, though. I usually enjoy coming online to amuse myself with their flight of fantasy. I think this anomaly in them is genetic. You can find it in most of them.

DomPerignon:
If I recall very well, Awo stood trial for tressonabkr felony and was accused of plotting a coup and in his trial only Awp stood accused. No co-defendant and not one single military officer was indicted or court martialed for planning and conspiring to overthrow the government.

How is that possible ?

Does it make sense that only one individual will stand trial for attempting to overthrow the government without any coconspirators and military participants ?

The Awo coup trial was an orchestrated setup to get rid of Awolowo.

It never happened and even in the trial , the prosecution only relied on a secretly recorded conversation between Awo and his loyalists discussing on the state of affairs of the country and the main discission was drifting towards Western Nigeria secceding from the union.

Thatscnot a coup to overthrow the government .

You're trying to make sense with a braindead developer who relies on the stories being peddled by his blodas that came from Ragos in their last virrage meeting? Good luck on that.

Threads like these need to be kept alive not only because they unearth hidden truths which most people are not aware but more importantly, they expose the mentality and pathological lying trait of an average Giringorist cum IPOB lunatic.

See their responses to this thread.

The grand betrayers who eventually would later go on calling everyone a betrayer.

They did the first coup and killed everyone except their kinsmen

They abolished regional system.....


Well, northern officers later did justice to the situation. They got what they deserved

Sirjamo:
The grand betrayers who eventually would later go on calling everyone a betrayer.

They did the first coup and killed everyone except their kinsmen

They abolished regional system.....


Well, northern officers later did justice to the situation. They got what they deserved

All goes to show you the big mistake the British made bringing us together. The amalgamation should never have happened, it has only led to fighting, death and suffering to this day

SarkinYarki:
The man go think say Nigeria don improve

I tell u