<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Casualties and losses </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 22 dead </Td> <Td> 0 </Td> </Tr> <P> The 1966 Nigerian coup d'état began on January 15, 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty . The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two - day span of time before the coup plotters were subdued . The General Officer Commanding, of the Nigerian Army, Johnson Aguiyi - Ironsi then used the coup as a pretext to annex power, ending Nigeria's nascent democracy . It was one of the events that led to the Nigerian Civil War . </P> <P> In August 1965 a group of Army majors (Kaduna Nzeogwu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, Victor Banjo and Adewale Ademoyega) began plotting a coup d'état against incumbent Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa . The coup was planned because according to the majors, the men at the helm of affairs were running Nigeria aground with their corrupt ways . Ministers under them were living flamboyant lifestyles and looting public funds at the expense of ordinary citizens . </P>

Who led the first coup d'etat in nigeria