In the early hours of 15 January 1966, Lagos moved under the strain of a rebellion that would change Nigeria’s political direction. Soldiers travelled in small groups, orders were disputed at gates, and familiar uniforms no longer guaranteed safety. In Ikoyi, one of the most significant episodes of that night unfolded at the home of Brigadier Zakariya Mai Malari.
This account focuses on what is most consistently supported by historical documentation, particularly the Nigeria Police Special Branch narrative of events. It traces the attempted seizure at his residence, his escape from the compound, and the roadside encounter that ended his life.
The Target House on Thompson Avenue
The operation against Brigadier Mai Malari centred on his residence at 11 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, described as a corner house where Brown Road runs into Thompson Avenue. A force arrived using two landrovers, dismounted, and deployed around the compound. A reserve group was positioned opposite the house in a dark location.
The party entered the compound, which was guarded by NCOs and men identified as belonging to 2 Battalion. According to the narrative, Major Okafor addressed the sentry and instructed that the existing guard should be called and assembled. He stated that the situation was bad, that he had come to take over the guard, and that the guard commander should take his men back to their unit. The report records that the guard commander objected, stating he had received no instruction to obey such an order, but Major Okafor and Captain Oji overruled him and entered the compound.
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The Phone Call and the First Burst of Fire
Inside the house, the downstairs lounge telephone began to ring. The report records that some men stated the Brigadier came downstairs to answer it. As he picked up the receiver, a burst of SMG fire was heard in the compound. The narrative attributes this burst to Captain Oji firing at a member of the Brigadier’s guard, a lance corporal of 2 Battalion, who was killed and later placed into Major Okafor’s landrover.
In the same sequence, the report states that another guard, Lance Corporal Paul Nwekwe of 2 Brigade Signal Troop, stationed near the front of the main gate, was hit in the neck by a bullet thought to be a ricochet.
The gunfire confirmed the threat inside the compound, and it triggered the moment that would decide whether the Brigadier lived or died.
Mai Malari’s Escape Into the Road
The report states that Brigadier Mai Malari, alerted by the gunfire to the presence of an armed party within his compound, dropped the telephone and, followed by his wife, ran into the boys’ quarters. From there, he escaped into the road. The narrative adds that it is thought he tried to make his way toward the Federal Guard Barracks.
What matters most is the central fact, the attempt to seize him at home did not succeed. He left the compound and reached the road, moving through Ikoyi at night while armed groups were in motion.
Orders in Anger, and the Search That Failed
After discovering that the Brigadier had escaped, the report records that Major Okafor reacted with anger and blamed the Federal Guard men for not shooting the Brigadier when they saw him running toward the boys’ quarters. The narrative states that Major Okafor ordered that the Brigadier must be shot on sight.
Major Okafor then entered a landrover and drove around the area for some time but did not find him. When he returned to 11 Thompson Avenue, other officers had arrived. The report records that Major Ademoyega told Captain Oji that the Brigadier had been killed and that he had seen the body at the Federal Guard. Captain Oji then informed Major Okafor of this, and Major Okafor told the troops present that the Brigadier had been killed by men from another unit. The time is placed as nearly 0400 hours by this stage.
Ifeajuna’s Convoy Moves Through Ikoyi
The report then links the Brigadier’s death to the movement of a convoy led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna. After the abduction of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, the narrative states that Major Ifeajuna and his convoy drove toward the Federal Guards Officers’ Mess, made a brief stop, and then proceeded in the direction of Ikoyi Hotel, still with the Prime Minister in the car.
This detail is crucial, because it places the head of government inside a moving convoy during a night of armed seizures, while senior officers were being targeted and eliminated.
The Stop Near the Golf Course
According to the report, the decisive encounter occurred in the Ikoyi Golf Course area, adjacent to a petrol station. The narrative states that Brigadier Mai Malari was walking toward Dodan Barracks when he saw Major Ifeajuna’s car. The report records that the Brigadier recognised Ifeajuna, shouted, and beckoned him to stop.
The car stopped. The report states that Major Ifeajuna, accompanied by 2nd Lieutenant Ezedigbo, went toward Brigadier Mai Malari and killed him.
This is one of the starkest moments in the Lagos sequence because it compresses the night’s danger into a single exchange. A brigadier, already under threat, signals to a known officer, the car stops, the officer approaches, and the brigadier is killed at the roadside.
What Happened After the Killing
The report continues that after Brigadier Mai Malari was killed, his body was loaded into a three tonner and taken to the Federal Guard Officers’ Mess.
It further records that when Major Ifeajuna and party returned to the Federal Guards Officers’ Mess, he learned that the GOC was in town and was organising 2nd Battalion at Ikeja to attack the rebels, and that Major Okafor joined him.
The report also states that at Yaba Military Hospital, they dropped 2nd Lieutenant Ezedigbo, who had been wounded in the encounter with Brigadier Mai Malari, and that the time was about 0400 hours.
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Why This Episode Still Cuts Deep
The documented sequence shows how power can be seized using the appearance of routine. A guard is told to stand down. An objection is overruled. A burst of gunfire turns a home into a battlefield. A senior officer escapes into the road and tries to reach safety. Then a car he recognises stops, and the encounter ends his life.
The night did not only reveal an enemy outside, it revealed an enemy within, inside trusted formations, inside familiar ranks, and inside command relationships that should have meant protection. In that collapse of certainty, Ikoyi became the setting for a killing that exposed the coup network’s advantage, it could move through Lagos wearing legitimacy.
Author’s Note
There are nights when history does not arrive as a headline, it arrives as a knock at the gate, a command delivered in a familiar uniform, and a split second choice about who to trust. Mai Malari’s last walk in Ikoyi endures because it shows how quickly safety can vanish when authority is hijacked from within, and how a single stopped car can become the moment a country’s future turns.
References
Nigeria Police Special Branch, Military Rebellion of 15th January 1966 (as reproduced by Nowamagbe Omoigui).
Max Siollun, Oil, Politics and Violence, Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966 to 1976), Algora Publishing, 2009.
Ben Gbulie, Nigeria’s Five Majors, Coup d’état of 15th January 1966, First Inside Account, Africana Educational Publishers, 1981.
