The story of Zakariya Maimalari and his last days was well captured in this Down Memory Lane piece.

Enjoy it: Enemy Within, Enemy Outside

The Party at 11 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi – January 14–15, 1966

Zakariya Maimalari holds a unique place in Nigerian military history. He was the first Nigerian regular combatant to be commissioned into the officer corps of the Nigerian Army and, by January 1966, served as Commander of the 2nd Brigade, Apapa, Lagos.

On the evening of Friday, January 14, 1966, senior officers of the Nigerian Army gathered at 11 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, for a party held in Maimalari’s honour. The occasion marked his remarriage, following the tragic and bizarre death of his first wife, who had been shot in an accident involving a hunting rifle.

Unbeknownst to many in attendance, the gathering carried a dark irony: some of the officers present at the celebration were themselves among the coup plotters preparing to strike.

In the early hours of Saturday, January 15, 1966, events moved swiftly. A group of Federal Guards, led by their commanding officer Major Don Okafor and Captain Oji, arrived at Maimalari’s residence with orders to arrest him.

At the time, Maimalari was downstairs taking a phone call when he suddenly heard bursts of gunfire erupt between his personal guards and the coup plotters. In a remarkable display of presence of mind, he escaped the house on foot, running toward the main road.

Fate, however, intervened cruelly.

Along the road, Maimalari encountered a vehicle driven by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, who was on his way to the Federal Guards Barracks with the captured Prime Minister inside the car. Seeing a familiar face, Maimalari waved the vehicle down, likely believing he had found safety.

Instead, he met his end.

Maimalari was shot dead by Ifeajuna and 2nd Lieutenant Ezedigbo. The Prime Minister, helpless and captive in the car, witnessed the killing in its entirety.

Thus, in one chilling moment, Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari—a pioneer of Nigeria’s army—fell not to an enemy from outside, but to betrayal from within.

-Text culled from Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966–1976) by Max Siollun, ASIRI Magazine, 2024.