Nigeria's first military coup d’état in January 1966 claimed the lives of the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh.

The military was not spared as well.

The Commander of 1 Brigade, Nigerian Army in Kaduna, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, the Commander, 2 Brigade Nigerian Army, Apapa, Lagos, Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, the acting Chief of Army Staff, Army Headquarters, Colonel Kur Mohammed, the Adjutant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel James Yakubu Pam, and the Commander, 4th Battalion, Ibadan, Lieutenant-Colonel Abogo Largema were some of the fine senior military officers whose careers met a bloody end.

However, the most senior military officer in the army, Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was not killed. He had survived the bloody carnage, as he was also targeted to be gunned down by the coup plotters.

Not only did Aguiyi-Ironsi escape death, but he also rallied some troops loyal to the government and subsequently crushed the coup.

So, how did the general, who later became Nigeria's first military Head-of-State, escape death in January 1966? #HistoryVille

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