NIGERIA MEMORIAL PART 6

HOW IT HAPPENED IN LAGOS Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna led the soldiers that carried out the coup in lagos and was assisted by: Majors Wale Ademoyega, Don Okafor, Chris Anuforo, and Humphrey Chukwuka.. Ifeajuna and some of his over zealous lieutenants left the 2nd Brigade HQ at 2:00 am and made their way to Prime Minister Abubakar Tafewa Balewa’s residence.  After several minutes of Exchange of Gun fire, with the Guards, They overpowered (but did not kill) the police officers standing guard there, and Ifeajuna kicked down the door of the Prime Minister’s bedroom before personally leading him out at gunpoint.  It appears that while the arrest of the Prime Minister was part of the plot, his murder was not! Ifeajuna and some of his co-conspirators exceeded their orders in killing him.. The reason for this action remains unknown...proof of this was after the coup failed, Nzeogwu rattled off a list of names that were on the Majors' hit list. He mentioned the Bad eggs such as Bello, Azikiwe, and Akintola.  BUT Balewa’s name was conspicuously absent.. Before Balewa was killed, he asked for, and was given time to say his prayers before he was shot dead by Major emmanuel Ifeajuna at point Blank Range. but not all arrested persons were to be killed.  Some politicians (such as Sir Kashim Ibrahim and Dr. Michael Okpara) were arrested but released unharmed afterwards.. Same morning that Balewa was Killed, Brigadier Maimalari and Many of the army’s senior officers were attending a party in honour of the Lagos-based first Brigade’s commander, Brigadier Maimalari Himself when Major Ifeajuna and his Boys struck! Maimalari was widely regarded by The North as an excellent soldier that was headed for the top. His toughness was such that many northern NCOs refused to accept his death and instead believed that Maimalari had made a miraculous escape from the January Majors and was still alive. This had a tiny semblance of truth: because Maimalari managed to escape from the first attempt to arrest him by Major Don Okafor after exchanging bullets for several minutes with his captors and managed to subdue Major Okafor' and jumping over a wall behind his house but, as he was escaping on foot, he came across the car of his Brigade Major: Emmanuel Ifeajuna. Maimalari, upon recognising Ifeajuna (who was Maimalari’s Brigade Major), and did not realising that Ifeajuna was part of the coup plot.  Erroneously believing that Ifeajuna could be trusted, Maimalari waved down the car, and was promptly shot in the HEAD by Ifeajuna. Maimalari's murder was a great loss to the northern soldiers who respected him so much.. The commanding officer of the Ibadan based 4th battalion, Lt-Col Abogo Largema, was a guest at the Ikoyi hotel on the night of the coup. Ifeajuna arrived at the hotel and forced the desk clerk at gunpoint, to inform Largema that he had a “phone call.”  When Largema emerged from his room to take the bogus “phone call" call, Major Ifeajuna and a subaltern emerged from their hiding place in the corridor and shot Largema dead.     Some officers and civilians who were considered as pro-Government or who could prevent the coup were also killed.  The army’s GOC Major-General Ironsi was tipped off about the coup by a telephone call from the Army’s Adjutant-General, Lt-Col James Pam.  Shortly after ending the telephone call with Ironsi, Pam was abducted from his house and shot dead by Major Chris Anuforo, after he confessed that Major Don okafor Detailed him to tip the GOC off but Anuforo who was a friend to Major Don Okafor did not believe he was telling the truth.  Pam was the son of the chief of Jos and was widely liked within the army, and regarded as a very capable officer. He was also a father of six. The Majors' decision to kill him mortified his colleagues.  Anuforo was most hasty in the use of his firearm on the night of January 15.  He personally shot dead Lt-Cols Pam and Unegbe, Colonel Kur Mohammed, and the Finance Minister Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh.  Okotie-Eboh was widely disliked during the first republic for his corruption. Okotie-Eboh’s arrest was particularly aggressive and eyewitnesses say that the soldiers who arrested him tossed him into their army Land Rover “like a sack of beans.”  He was shot dead by Major Anuforo despite pleading for his life.  Balewa, Kur Mohammed and Okotie-Eboh were initially kidnapped, but killed later when it became clear that the coup was not going to succeed. Stay tuned for more: NIGERIA MEMORIAL**