The first regular combatant from Nigeria to be commissioned into the officer Corps of the Nigerian Army was Zakariya Maimalari. In Apapa, Lagos, he oversaw the 2nd Brigade. Many top army commanders attended a party on January 14, 1966, in honor of Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, the commander of the 2 Brigade, which was stationed in Lagos and had recently remarried. In a strange hunting gun mishap, his first wife had been shot and died. Several of the actual coup conspirators attended the party.
On Saturday, January 15, 1966, following the Party, a squad of Federal guards, under the supervision of Major Don Okafor, their commanding officer, and Captain Oji, went to 11 Thompson Avenue Ikoyi to arrest Maimalari. When Maimalari heard gunfire between his guards and the coup plotters while he was downstairs on a phone call, he skillfully fled on foot and made his way out of the house toward the main road.
Later, he saw Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna’s vehicle, which was carrying the imprisoned Prime Minister “Abubakar Tafawa Balewa” to the Federal Guards barracks.
When Maimalari waved the car down and noticed a familiar face, Ifeajuna and 2nd Lieutenant Ezedigbo shot Maimalari dead on the spot. The entire event was witnessed by the Prime Minister, who was held captive in Ifeajuna’s vehicle.
