Fani-Kayode reflects on narrow escape during 1966 coup

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has recounted his family’s harrowing experience during Nigeria’s first military coup on January 15, 1966.

Reflecting on the event, he revealed how mutinous soldiers stormed his father’s residence in their attempt to seize political leaders.

Fani-Kayode recalled how the mutineers nearly killed him and his siblings while abducting his father, Chief Remilekun Adetokunbo Fani-Kayode, the then Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region. Describing the morning as “traumatic and devastating,” he said:

“The mutineers came to our home, the official residence of the Deputy Premier of the Old Western Region. After storming our house and almost killing my brother, sister, and me, they beat, brutalized, and abducted my father.”

The coup, led by Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu and other young military officers, resulted in the deaths of several prominent leaders, including Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh.

Chief Fani-Kayode described the event as a moment that “set in motion a cycle of carnage which changed our entire history.”

Related Articles

Back to top button