| 1976 Nigerian coup d'état attempt | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Armed Forces faction | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Murtala Mohammed † Olusegun Obasanjo | Bukar Suka Dimka | ||||||
The1976 Nigerian coup d'état attempt was amilitarycoup attempt which took place inNigeria on 13 February 1976[1] when a faction ofArmed Forces officers, led by Lieutenant ColonelBukar Suka Dimka, attempted to overthrow the government of GeneralMurtala Mohammed (who himself took power in the1975 coup d'état).
Mohammed was assassinated inLagos, along with hisaide-de-camp LieutenantAkintunde Akinsehinwa, when his car was ambushed inIkoyi en route to theDodan Barracks, by a group of soldiers led by Dimka.[2][3] In a planned broadcast to the nation, Dimka had cited corruption, indecision, arrest and detention without trial, weakness on the part of Mohammed and maladministration in general as the reasons for overthrowing the government. The coup attempt was crushed several hours later by government troops.
After a three-week manhunt, Dimka was arrested nearAbakaliki in southeastern Nigeria on 6 March 1976.[4] Following acourt martial, Dimka and another 6 co-conspirators wereexecuted by firing squad on 15 May 1976.[5]
General Mohammed was succeeded by Lieutenant GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo as head of state.
