The former head of Nigeria’s Military Government and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, he was assassinated in the military coup of 29 July, 1966 (which was known as the counter coup of 1966), was accorded a state funeral with full military honours on 20 January, 1967. The ceremony took place in his home town, Umuahia-Ibeku , Eastern Nigeria . This picture shows Ironsi’s parents, wife Mrs. Victoria Ironsi (in black, behind children); East Nigeria Military Governor Lt Col Ojukwu and other mourners at the graveside, with the coffin in the background.
On 29 July, 1966 Aguiyi-Ironsi spent the night at the Government House in Ibadan, as part of a nationwide tour. His host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of Western Nigeria, alerted him to a possible mutiny within the army. Aguiyi-Ironsi desperately tried to contact his Army Chief of Staff, Yakubu Gowon, but he was unreachable.
In the early hours of the morning, the Government House, Ibadan, was surrounded by soldiers led by Theophilus Danjuma, who later arrested Aguiyi-Ironsi and questioned him about his alleged complicity in the coup, which saw the demise of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello. The circumstances leading to Aguiyi-Ironsi death still remain a subject of much controversy in Nigeria. His body and that of Fajuyi were later discovered in a nearby forest.
The swagger stick with a stuffed crocodile mascot carried by Aguiyi-Ironsi was called “Charlie”. Legend had it that the crocodile mascot made him invulnerable and that it was used to dodge or deflect bullets when he was on mission in the Congo. Despite the stories, the crocodile mascot probably had something to do with the fact that the name “Aguiyi” translates as “crocodile” in Igbo.
Image Credit: TopFoto
