The early hours of January 15, 1966, witnessed the first military intervention in Nigerian politics. A group of young army majors, led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna, executed a bloody coup that targeted top political leaders across the country.
The Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Akintola, were among those killed. The coup was motivated by perceived corruption, tribalism, and the failure of the First Republic’s politicians to maintain order.
While the majors succeeded in their assassinations, they failed to take full control of the government. Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, the most senior army officer, eventually took power, marking the beginning of a long period of military rule in Nigeria. The ethnic nature of the killings and the subsequent counter-coup in July 1966 set the stage for the Nigerian Civil War.