who carried out the first coup in nigeria
1966 Nigerian coup d'état The 1966 Nigerian coup d'Ã©tat began on January 15, 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people[1] including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty.[2][3] The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day span of time before the coup plotters were subdued. The General Officer Commanding, of the Nigerian Army, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi then used the coup as a pretext to annex power, ending Nigeria's nascent democracy. It was one of the events that led to the Nigerian Civil War.