On July 29, 1966, mutinous northern soldiers killed General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of the Western Region.
The killings occurred at Government House, Ibadan, during what military sources described as a “counter-coup” against the Aguiyi-Ironsi administration.
According to reports, the revolt began in the early hours of Friday and spread to major barracks in Kaduna, Kano, Abeokuta, and Lagos.
Eyewitnesses said a group of northern officers and soldiers stormed Government House at about 2:00 a.m. General Aguiyi-Ironsi, who was on a nationwide tour, was staying with Governor Fajuyi at the time.
It was gathered that Governor Fajuyi ordered his troops not to resist in order to protect the Head of State. Both men were taken from the premises and later shot dead outside the city.
The July action came six months after the January 15, 1966 coup that brought General Aguiyi-Ironsi to power following the deaths of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and other northern leaders.
Tensions had been rising for weeks over Decree No. 34, which abolished the federal structure, and over perceived imbalances in military postings and in the handling of the January coup plotters.
