The family of Nigeria’s first military Head of State, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, has called on the Federal Government to issue a formal apology and provide compensation over his assassination during the 1966 counter-coup.
Imo Aguiyi-Ironsi, head of the family and nephew of the late General, made the demand during a Thursday appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time.
He described Aguiyi-Ironsi as a detribalised leader and visionary who served the nation without bias.
The family head lamented that Ironsi held office for only six months before being killed, stressing that he committed no crime.
“The only crime he committed was that he was the most senior officer at the time. And he was called upon to take over after the coup. He did not take part in the coup. He accepted the call to serve his fatherland before he was gruesomely assassinated,” Imo Aguiyi-Ironsi said.
He added that while the nation moved on after the event, the family still seeks sincere apology, compensation, and reconciliation from the government.
Historical Context
Aguiyi-Ironsi became Head of State following the January 1966 coup, which ended Nigeria’s First Republic parliamentary system. He was killed in July 1966 during a counter-coup that also claimed the lives of Prime Minister Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and several other senior officers.
The family’s renewed call revives long-standing debates about accountability, national healing, and reconciliation regarding events that triggered deep ethnic tensions and eventually led to the Nigerian Civil War.
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