Outside the federal parliament building in Lagos, troops with fixed bayonets warned a swarm of curious small boys to "Go 'way, go 'way, this is no place for children today." In the lobby of the Ikoyi Hotel, scrubwomen used Dettol antiseptic to scour bloodstains off the marble floor. Throughout the capital city, telephones were mysteriously out of order. Alerting Nigeria to stay tuned for an important announcement, the government radio station canceled its regular programs, filled the time with music, 15 minutes of talking drums, a taped travelogue and a well-worn recorded sermon. The needle got stuck on the words "Charity envieth not charity envieth not charity envieth not . . ."
Finally came the announcement the nation had been waiting for. An exuberant voice proclaimed: "I, J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, general officer commanding the Nigerian army, have formally been invested with authority as head of the Nigerian armed forces." So saying, Major General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi (pronounced Agwee-yee Ironsee) abolished the constitution of Africa's most populous nation, eliminated the offices of President and Prime Minister, fired the Premiers of Nigeria's four semi-autonomous regions, and announced that military governors would take their places. Democracy, for the time being at least, was dead in Nigeria.
Mock Invasion. Its death was swift and violent. In a single night, a conspiracy led by five young Sandhurst-trained officers killed or neutralized their superiors and grabbed control of big units of the army. Then, in simultaneous strikes throughout the nation, they killed or kidnaped Nigeria's most powerful feudal lord, the Sardauna of Sokoto; its two most corrupt politicians, Finance Minister Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and Western Region Premier Chief Samuel Akintola; and its most prestigious international figure, Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
The raids were brilliantly planned, precisely executed (murmured one resident Englishman: "Sandhurst training certainly leaves its mark"). In the dusty northern capital of Kaduna, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu, 29, had been holding night maneuvers for six straight weeks, once even led his troops through a mock invasion of the sprawling white palace of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna (Emir) of Sokoto, religious leader of 12.5 million Nigerian Moslems, boss of the nation's ruling political party, and the real power behind the Balewa government. So accustomed had the city become to the sound of night gunfire during the maneuvers that not even the police bothered to investigate when Nzeogwu threw a hand grenade through the palace's front door, then, with his men, shot it out with the palace guards, dragged the Sardauna outside, propped him against a wall and shot him.
Handcuffs & Dash. A similar scene was occurring at the same time in Ibadan, capital of the Western Region, where the Sardauna's political ally, Regional Premier Chief Samuel Akintola, was shot and his house burned down.