Nigeria’s first military coup was carried out on January 15th, 1966, by a group of soldiers under the command of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu.
Several important political figures, including Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Chief Ladoke Akintola, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, and his first wife, Hafusatu Ahmadu Bello, perished in the bloody coup that overthrew Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s democratically elected administration.
Goggon Kurya Hafsatu bint Abdulkadir Maccido, whom Ahmadu Bello married in 1932, was a Waziri of Sokoto and was a daughter of the Sokoto Waziri.
Gidado Idris, a former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) and the late Ahmadu Bello’s personal secretary at the time, recalled his involvement in the coup on January 15, 1966. On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2015, he spoke with Weekly Trust about how Kaduna Nzeogwu killed Ahmadu Bello and his wife during the coup.
A coup.
“The late Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa called and wanted to speak to the late Premier on January 14, 1966, the evening before the tragedy, at around 8:00 pm. I put him through because he was uninvolved. After that, the Premier called me and asked how much money he owed to the stores where we used to make purchases and had accounts, including Kingsway, Bhojsons, and other places. “.
At around noon, he called me and his ADC, Aliyu Kangiwa, and asked us to visit his new office. The three of us went. He was generally content with it. He had been informed earlier that the Premier of the West, Samuel Akintola, was on his way to see him, but the arrival wasn’t expected for some time. So, after sending a minister to pick up S. L Akintola, he made the decision to forego going to the airport and instead went to the mosque for Friday prayers. Ramadan was the time of all of this. “.
The first military takeover in Nigeria was orchestrated by Kaduna Nzeogwu.
The General Usman Hassan Katsina House in Kawo, which was intended to serve as the Sardauna’s new official residence and office, was where the Premier of the West had arrived and was headed when we were informed around 3 o’clock that he had arrived. I recall that Remi Fani-Kayode and other ministers were in his entourage when he arrived. “.
“Akintola claimed he had come to see the Premier to inquire about his knowledge of the army’s impending takeover of the government the following day. The Sardauna claimed that although he was aware of it, he has left everything in God’s hands. “.
“Akintola then claimed he had arrived with a plane so they could travel to places like the neighboring Niger, where his best friend was the president at the time. The Premier rejected it and claimed that those calling for the removal of the government were not the ones who put it in place in the first place. He declared, “I won’t leave my people in their hour of need to flee and seek refuge elsewhere.”. He then told Akintola that since he was certain that it would occur, he should return to his people and inform them to prepare for battle. Akintola heeded the Premier’s counsel and went back to Ibadan. “.
It was too late for Bello to go play his favorite game of Fives after Akintola left, Idris claimed. He then made the decision to take a tour of the GRA and Kaduna south before iftar, the time when the Ramadan fast is broken.
“We entered one of those long cars with the seats facing one another. Alhaji Ali Kwarbai (Ali Sarkin Mota), the chief driver for the Sardauna, was in control of the wheel. I sat facing him as he sat with his friends. The driver was just driving around, and he later arrived home just in time for the breaking of the fast,” the man claimed.
Mr. Idris Gidado.
“You must understand that the Premier’s job back then required nonstop work, with no weekends. Most of our children at the time didn’t even know who we were because if we left our homes in the morning, we typically didn’t get back until after midnight. We had to get to the Premier on time, so we had to leave our homes by 5:00 am. “.
Later That Evening.
The well-known musician Dan Kwairo was present that evening after the break of the day’s fast until around 10:30 pm because he had come to provide entertainment for the Premier. Naturally, we were grouchy and exhausted, but there was nothing we could do. He continued to play until, all of a sudden, Brigadier-General Samuel Ademulegun, then-Commissioner of Police M.D Yusuf, and the late Alhaji Ali Akilu, who served as the Northern regional government’s secretary, arrived and went straight to the office to ask to see the Premier. The Premier left us when he saw them and went to meet them. Following an hour-long meeting, they parted ways. “.
Dan Kwairo was still performing when the Premier entered the room, but he decided to end the performance and head upstairs to write his Sallah address before turning in for the night because we had a morning flight to Sokoto. While chatting, we became aware that it was getting late and the Premier had still not sent for us, so we made the decision to leave. “.
“We had no idea that soldiers had already positioned themselves around the compound when we first came out. A siren sounded as I left the Sardaunas’ house when I was residing in Doka Crescent at the time. “.
We occasionally tested it to make sure it was functioning, and I assumed that was the cause of the problem. But then I noticed the late Haruna Musa, the Principal Secretary’s security detail, and the then-acting Commissioner of Police, an Idoma man whose name escapes me, walking toward the Premier’s home. Though I didn’t believe there was a problem, I still went home. “.
“I am the one you are looking for,” Ahmadu Bello told Nzeogwu. “.
“Abubakar Umar, the Sardauna’s Private Secretary, who was visiting from Kano and staying in the guest wing of the house, heard a loud noise and looked out from his room to see the chaos with soldiers all over. He quickly dialed Ali Akilu, the Premier’s private secretary, who informed him of what was going on and that it might be a coup. Akilu quickly got ready before heading to MdotD. House of Yusuf. Soldiers barged into his home five minutes after he left and demanded to know where he was; however, when his wife informed them that he had gone to Zaria for a meeting, they departed. Umar’s phone call was what kept him alive. “.
Nobody else was in the house, he claimed.
All of the Premier’s wives, staff members, and wards were brought out and instructed to take seats on the floor by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. When Nzeogwu himself demanded to know who Ahmadu Bello was, a resident of the home who resembled the late Premier somewhat but wasn’t as tall was present. They knew he wasn’t the one despite his outward declarations to the contrary. The soldiers threatened to shoot everyone if they were not told who Ahmadu Bello was in the group. “.
Hafusatu Bello Ahmadu.
“The Premier, who was present, stood up and announced, “I’m the one you’re looking for. I’m the one you’re looking for. The first wife said that if they must kill him, then they must also kill them both as the soldiers were about to kill Ahmadu Bello when two of the wives stood up. As they hugged, he and she were both shot. We discovered the body where they had left it. “.
“The entire area was empty. There were no longer any ministers. The best course of action, we determined, was to have his body taken to the Sokoto Sultan’s residence in Ungwan Sarki. It was already prepared for burial when we arrived, and that is where he was laid to rest. “.
After serving as Kaduna state’s permanent secretary from 1971 to 1975, secretary of the committee charged with drafting the constitution in 1975, secretary of the assembly that produced the constitution in 1979, and clerk of the national assembly in 1979, Gidado Idris later went on to hold these positions.
Idris was appointed SGF by the late Sani Abacha, the country’s head of state at the time, on October 17, 1995. He served in that capacity until May 28, 1999, when Nigeria was once again placed under civil rule. December 2017 saw his passing.
