Brigadier General Samuel Ademulegun was killed along with his eight-month pregnant wife during the 1966 Kaduna coup. He was a Nigerian Army officer and commander of the 1st Brigade during the January 1966 coup. He was born on October 20, 1924, in the city of Ondo in western Nigeria and was considered one of the best officers in the country at the time. The Son of the Lord.and Mrs. Michael Ademulegun, he had his early education in Ondo state before joining the Nigerian Army as a private in 1942.
Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun was married to Mrs. Latifat Feyisitan Abike Ademulegun (nee Noble) who was also known as Sisi Nurse, he was killed cold-bloodedly during the January 1966 coup. He was survived by his daughter Mrs.Solape Ademulegun-Agbi, Bankole, Kunle, Gbenga, Goke and his eldest son Frank Bamidele, who later enlisted in the Nigerian Air Force where he rose to become group captain before his death in 2002.
Ademulegun was commissioned in 1949 and was among the most senior officers in the army along with Aguiyi Ironsi, Zakariya Maimalari and Babafemi Ogundipe. He was among those vying for the Chinese government’s top military post in 1965 after the expatriate Chinese citizen retired. He was considered a friend of Ahmadu Bello, which sparked resentment among some non-commissioned officers who frowned at their commander’s fraternization with politicians.
He and his wife were killed during the 1966 coup when attackers led by Major Timothy, an instructor at the Nigerian Military Academy, broke into his room and were shot dead on his bed.In an eyewitness account of the killing of Samuel Ademulegun, his daughter, Mrs. Solape Ademulegun-Agbi, narrated in an interview how her father was killed by military officers.
His report details the invasion and gruesome assassination of the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1st Division in Kaduna State. The perpetrators who died in what is believed to be the first coup in Nigeria are said to have rid the country of corrupt politicians and their relatives.
