The Murtala Muhammed assassination on 13 February 1976 was one of the most consequential acts of political violence in post-independence Nigerian history. General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, who had been Nigeria’s military Head of State for less than seven months, was travelling through Lagos when soldiers involved in an attempted coup attacked his official car.
His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa, and his driver were also killed. Yet one man inside the vehicle survived: Michael Otuwe, Muhammed’s military orderly.
Otuwe’s account provides an unusually close view of the attack. He remembered the first burst of gunfire, the desperate movements inside the car and a second round of shooting after the attackers appeared to be leaving.
His survival preserved a rare personal account of the morning Nigeria lost its Head of State.
Murtala Muhammed Assassination and the Failed Dimka Coup
General Murtala Ramat Muhammed became Nigeria’s Head of State on 29 July 1975, following the removal of General Yakubu Gowon while Gowon was abroad.
Muhammed inherited a country still shaped by military rule, the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War and growing public dissatisfaction with corruption and government inefficiency. His administration quickly became associated with an energetic programme of reform, including changes in the civil service, the creation of new states and plans for an eventual return to civilian government.
His tenure was brief.
On the morning of 13 February 1976, a group of dissident military officers attempted to overthrow his government. The coup became most closely associated with Lieutenant-Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka.
As the coup unfolded, Muhammed was travelling through Lagos towards his official duties.
The attackers struck before he reached his destination.
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The attempted takeover failed to secure control of the armed forces or the state, but the conspirators succeeded in killing the Head of State.
The Journey Through Lagos
Unlike the extensive presidential convoys familiar in later periods of Nigerian history, Muhammed was known for travelling with comparatively limited security.
On 13 February 1976, he was travelling in his official Mercedes-Benz. Inside the vehicle were Muhammed, his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa, his driver and his orderly, Michael Otuwe.
Otuwe later recalled that the vehicle became caught in traffic around the Federal Secretariat and Alagbon area of Ikoyi.
It was there that the attack began.
Men associated with the coup approached the vehicle and opened fire.
The driver was struck during the initial attack. Otuwe reacted by throwing himself towards the front of the vehicle as bullets hit the car.
Muhammed and Akinsehinwa also tried to protect themselves during the shooting.
The attack then took another turn.
Michael Otuwe’s Account of the Gunfire
Otuwe remembered the shooting as occurring in more than one stage.
After the initial attack, the gunmen began moving away from the vehicle.
Inside the Mercedes-Benz, however, there was still movement.
Otuwe recalled that Lieutenant Akinsehinwa opened a door, apparently attempting to assist Muhammed.
One of the attackers noticed the movement and alerted the others.
The gunmen returned.
Another burst of shooting followed.
Otuwe was struck in the arm and hip. Muhammed and Akinsehinwa were fatally wounded during the attack, while the driver also died.
Otuwe survived.
His recollection remains one of the most vivid descriptions of the Murtala Muhammed assassination because it places the reader inside the vehicle as the attack unfolded.
It was not simply the story of a military coup or a change of government. It was also the story of four men trapped inside a car as armed soldiers opened fire on a Lagos road.
The Men Who Died with Murtala Muhammed
Muhammed was not the only man killed inside the vehicle.
His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa, died in the attack.
The driver was also killed.
The violence associated with the coup extended beyond the ambush in Lagos.
Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo, the Military Governor of Kwara State, was also killed by soldiers associated with the rebellion.
The conspirators hoped to remove the government and replace its leadership, but they failed to gain the military support necessary to consolidate power.
The assassination of Muhammed therefore became the most dramatic act of a coup that ultimately collapsed.
Dimka’s Broadcast and the Collapse of the Coup
As the attempted takeover unfolded, Lieutenant-Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka used the national broadcasting system to announce that the government had been overthrown.
The declaration did not give the conspirators control of the country.
Important military formations remained loyal to the government, while troops opposed to the coup moved to regain control of strategic locations.
The rebellion quickly began to unravel.
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Dimka fled as loyalist forces reasserted government authority.
He was later captured.
In the aftermath, military tribunals tried officers and others accused of involvement in the coup. Dimka was among those convicted and was executed in May 1976.
The conspirators had succeeded in killing the Head of State but had failed to seize lasting control of Nigeria.
Obasanjo Succeeds Murtala Muhammed
Following Muhammed’s death, the Supreme Military Council selected Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo as the new Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Obasanjo had served in the military government under Muhammed and continued many of the policies already under way.
One of the most important was the commitment to return Nigeria to civilian rule.
The process continued through constitutional and political arrangements that culminated in the transfer of power to the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari in 1979.
Muhammed’s assassination therefore changed the leadership of Nigeria but did not end the political transition his government had begun.
His name nevertheless became permanently associated with the unfinished possibilities of his short period in office.
Michael Otuwe, the Survivor
Michael Otuwe’s survival gave Nigeria something extremely rare after the assassination: a voice from inside the Head of State’s car.
He had been seriously wounded during the shooting and lost consciousness amid the violence.
Otuwe later recalled being removed from the scene before eventually receiving medical attention.
His survival meant that the final journey of Murtala Muhammed was not remembered solely through official announcements, military reports or accounts from people who arrived after the shooting.
Someone who had been travelling beside him lived to describe the attack.
That made Otuwe an important witness to one of the defining moments of Nigeria’s military era.
A Short Presidency with a Long Historical Shadow
Murtala Muhammed had ruled Nigeria for only about six and a half months when he was killed.
Despite the brevity of his government, his administration became associated with rapid political and administrative change.
The government removed large numbers of public officials during a major civil service purge, reorganised parts of the federal administration and announced the creation of additional states.
Muhammed’s government also advanced plans for a new federal capital in Abuja, a project that would profoundly reshape Nigeria’s political geography in later decades.
In foreign affairs, his government adopted an assertive African policy, particularly on issues of decolonisation and majority rule in southern Africa.
These actions helped create the enduring public image of a leader determined to move quickly and decisively.
His sudden death ensured that debates over his leadership would continue long after his brief time in office.
The Coup Era in Nigerian History
The assassination also belonged to a broader period of political instability.
Nigeria’s First Republic had ended in the military coup of January 1966. A counter-coup followed in July of the same year.
The country then endured the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970.
General Yakubu Gowon remained in power until July 1975, when he was removed while attending an Organisation of African Unity summit in Kampala, Uganda.
Muhammed took power after Gowon’s removal.
Less than seven months later, another coup attempt brought armed men to his car in Lagos.
The events of February 1976 therefore reflected a political system in which the leadership of the Nigerian state could still be challenged through military force.
Although the Dimka coup failed, Muhammed’s death demonstrated the deadly consequences of that political culture.
Fifty Years After the Assassination
The Murtala Muhammed assassination returned to national attention during the 50th anniversary of his death in February 2026.
The Murtala Muhammed Foundation organised commemorative activities during the month, including public discussions, memorial events, exhibitions and programmes examining his legacy.
The anniversary invited Nigerians to look again at the extraordinary brevity of his rule and the violence that ended it.
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It also returned attention to those who were present during his final journey.
Among them, Michael Otuwe occupies a unique place.
He entered the Mercedes-Benz that morning as the Head of State’s orderly and emerged from one of the most famous assassinations in Nigerian history as its surviving eyewitness.
Conclusion
The assassination of General Murtala Ramat Muhammed was both a personal tragedy and a turning point in Nigerian political history.
On 13 February 1976, soldiers participating in an attempted coup attacked his vehicle in Lagos. Muhammed was killed, along with his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa and his driver. Michael Otuwe survived.
The wider coup associated with Lieutenant-Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka failed, and Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded Muhammed as Head of State.
Yet the official sequence of governments and military operations tells only part of the story.
Otuwe’s recollection brings the reader inside the car. He remembered bullets hitting the vehicle, men trying to protect themselves, the attackers moving away and then returning after noticing movement.
For a few violent moments on a Lagos road, the future of Nigeria intersected with the lives of four men trapped inside a Mercedes-Benz.
One survived to tell the story.
Author’s Note
Murtala Muhammed’s assassination illustrates how quickly the course of national history can change. His death ended one military leadership but did not halt the transition programme that eventually returned Nigeria to civilian government. Michael Otuwe’s survival also reminds us that major historical events are not experienced as dates and political summaries by those caught inside them. Behind the coups, governments and official announcements were individuals confronted by fear, violence, loyalty and sudden loss. Fifty years later, that human dimension remains central to understanding the morning Nigeria lost one of its most consequential military rulers.
References
The Nigeria Year Book 1976, Daily Times of Nigeria Limited. National Library of Nigeria collection.
Daily Trust / Trust Radio, “FLASHBACK: I watched as men in ‘Agbada’ opened fire on Gen Murtala, Orderly”, republished 13 February 2026. Interview with retired Master Warrant Officer Michael Otuwe.
Max Siollun, Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture 1966–1976. Algora Publishing, 2009.
Murtala Muhammed Foundation, General Murtala Muhammed 50th Anniversary Commemoration programme, February 2026.
Federal Republic of Nigeria historical publications on the Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo military governments, covering the 1975 to 1979 period.
