How Gen Ironsi ADC escaped July 1966 m*ssacre

On 29 July 1966, during Nigeria’s military counter-coup, the then Head of State, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, was abducted from Government House, Ibadan, alongside his host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, and his Aide-de-Camp, Captain Andrew Nwankwo.

The operation was carried out by northern soldiers led by Major T. Y. Danjuma. Approximately two hours later, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and Lt. Col. Fajuyi were k*lled, while Captain Andrew Nwankwo miraculously escaped.

Captain Nwankwo’s survival has since been described as one of the most remarkable escapes of the July 1966 counter-coup. His escape was not accidental but rooted in a prior pact formed under the tense atmosphere that followed the January 1966 coup.

After the January coup, military barracks across Nigeria were gripped by suspicion and anxiety. Rumours of a counter-coup were widespread, fueled by the open agitation of some northern officers, including Major Hassan Katsina and Major Murtala Mohammed. It was within this climate of distrust that Captain Andrew Nwankwo had a heated argument with his close friend, Lieutenant Sanni Bello, who was then serving as an ADC. While Nwankwo believed northern officers were planning a retaliatory coup against what was perceived as an “Igbo coup,” Bello insisted that Igbo officers were preparing another takeover.

During this exchange, both officers made a solemn pact to protect each other should a counter-coup occur. According to Nwankwo, “Bello assured me that if it was his own people, he would protect me. The tension was such that we knew a coup was imminent. So, we agreed to protect each other, depending on where it came from.” This promise ultimately proved decisive.

When Danjuma and his northern troops took the trio of Ironsi, Fajuyi and Nwankwo, they used telephone cable to tie their hands behind and their legs, with a little space to walk. Ironsi was taken in a Land Rover. Fajuyi in a mini bus and Nwankwo in another bus.

They drove them towards Iwo Road, 10 km from Ibadan, there was a small forest were they stopped, and then marched them to the right hand side of the bush, Fajuyi was leading and as he tried to cross a small stream, he fell down, the soldiers were unruly, as it appeared that some of them had for the first time taken Indian h*mp, so when he fell down some of them started b*ating him.

As Fajuyi fell down and they were b*ating him, Sanni Bello came to Nwankwo and tapped him and said, “we could do something now”. Nwankwo then took a few steps from them and jumped into a nearby ditch, all in a split of a second, Bello came and stood by the ditch and was shouting that he had escaped pointing at another direction.

So the soldiers ran around that direction sh*oting into the bush, and when they felt they must have k*lled him, they sh*ot Fajuyi and then Ironsi there, by the side of the stream. After the k*lling, Bello was the last person to leave the place after making sure that Nwankwo escaped safely.

Captian Andrew Nwankwo later survived the subsequent civil war and later contested and won a Senate seat in 1983 to represent his people of Izzi/Anakaliki. (present Ebonyi state)