In the morning of 13 February 1976, former Nigerian military head of state, General Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated in his car while stuck in traffic close to George Street, Ikoyi—en route to his office at Dodan Barracks.
Mohammed, 37 years old, was only accompanied in his Mercedes Benz saloon car by his aide, Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa, and an orderly who carried a pistol—the only visible protection the men had when they were ambushed by armed soldiers.
The assassination was part of a failed coup attempt, carried out by soldiers loyal to Lieutenant Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka. In a planned broadcast from Radio Nigeria in Ikoyi during the attempt, Dimka cited the corruption, indecision, and weakness of Mohammed’s government as the reasons for his coup. However, the coup was crushed by soldiers loyal to Mohammed’s government, and Dimka fled Lagos—he was arrested three weeks later after a manhunt near Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on 06 March 1976. After a court-martial, Dimka was publicly executed by firing squad at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos, on 15 May 1976.
Mohammed was succeeded by his deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, who became Nigeria’s leader for the first time. Mohammed himself had gained power through a 1975 coup, deposing Yakubu Gowon while Gowon attended an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Kampala, Uganda. Today, Mohammed’s portrait adorns the 20 Naira note, while Lagos International Airport was renamed to Murtala Muhammed International Airport after his death.
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