Arthur Unegbe

Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe was a Nigerian military officer who was QuarterMaster-General, Army Headquarters, Lagos on January 15, 1966, the day of Nigeria's first coup.

Unegbe enlisted in the army in 1955 was commissioned a year later along with David Ejoor, Yakubu Gowon, Alexander Madiebo[1] and Victor Banjo.

He obtained further training at the Command and Staff College, Quetta, Pakistan, coursemates of Unegbe included Hilary Njoku and Maimalari. After his return from Pakistan, he became commander of a tactical unit in Kano, the 5th Battalion. The unit was called upon to quell riots caused by partisan agitation in the Benue valley.[2]

Death

Unegbe was murdered in his home in Apapa during the coup operation by Anuforo. His corpse was carried to a waiting car by Non-Commissioned junior officers on the orders of Chris Anuforo who had earlier kidnapped Kur Mohammed from his house.[2] Unegbe was the only Igbo military officer killed by the plotters. Differing opinions for his murder arose during and after the civil war. A reason stated that he was killed because of his refusal to hand over keys of the armory to the plotters, however, writers like Alexander Madiebo who wrote about the coup, proposed that he could not have had keys to the armory but was killed because of his close relationship to Brigadier Maimalari.[3]

References

Siollun, Max (2009). Oil, politics and violence : Nigeria's military coup culture (1966-1976). Algora Pub. p. 122. ISBN 9780875867106.
Trust, Daily (21 August 2016). "British secret files on Nigeria's first bloody coup, path to Biafra". Daily Trust.
Opata, Christian (2016). "10. Part IIIMemoirs and the Question of Objectivity Revisiting Alexander Madiebo's The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War and Robert Collis's Nigeria in Conflict". Writing the Nigeria-Biafra War (NED - New ed.). Boydell & Brewer. pp. 219–223. ISBN 978-1-84701-144-2. JSTOR 10.7722/j.ctt1c3gxm9.CS1 maint: date and year (link)

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[1] Siollun, Max (2009). Oil, politics and violence : Nigeria's military coup culture (1966-1976). Algora Pub. p. 122. ISBN 9780875867106.

[?-2] Trust, Daily (21 August 2016). "British secret files on Nigeria's first bloody coup, path to Biafra". Daily Trust.

[3] Opata, Christian (2016). "10. Part IIIMemoirs and the Question of Objectivity Revisiting Alexander Madiebo's The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War and Robert Collis's Nigeria in Conflict". Writing the Nigeria-Biafra War (NED - New ed.). Boydell & Brewer. pp. 219–223. ISBN 978-1-84701-144-2. JSTOR 10.7722/j.ctt1c3gxm9.CS1 maint: date and year (link)