Chris Anuforo

Christian Anuforo (died August 1966) was a Nigerian Army Major and one of the principal plotters of the January 15, 1966 coup, an event that derailed Nigeria's corrupt democracy and introduced military rule to Nigeria.

Education

Anuforo attended Saint John's College in Kaduna, where he became close friends with Kaduna Nzeogwu.[1] He received his commission in 1961 from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.[2]

Participation in the January 15, 1966 coup

While serving as the Staff Officer at Army Headquarters, Anuforo along with other Majors (Kaduna Nzeogwu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Adewale Ademoyega, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, and Timothy Onwuatuegwu plotted the overthrow of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's government for what the conspirators perceived as the government's corrupt management of Nigeria.

Anuforo was reportedly the most ruthless of the January 15 conspirators and according to the Nigerian Police Special Branch investigation of the coup, Anuforo executed Lt Colonels James Pam, Arthur Unegbe, Colonel Kur Mohammed and Federal Minister of Finance Festus Okotie-Eboh.[3][4]

Death

In August 1966 some troops (of northern origin) from the 4th battalion at Ibadan after attending a funeral in Benin learned that Anurofo and other January 15 conspirators were in the Benin prison and broke into it to execute revenge for what they perceived as an ethnic based coup targeting northerners in January 1966.[5] Anuforo and other soldiers in detention such as Warrant Officers James Ogbu and B. Okuge, Sergeants Chukwu, Ogbuhara, and Ndukife, were tortured and killed.

References
  1. Obasanjo, Olusegun. Nzeogwu: An Intimate Portrait of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Spectrum Books, 1987. pp. 18–19. ISBN 9789780291341.
  2. Luckham, Robin. The Nigerian Military a Sociological Analysis of Authority & Revolt 1960-1967. CUP Archive, 1971. p. 344.
  3. Siollun, Max. Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966-1976). Algora Publishing, 2009. p. 53. ISBN 9780875867106.
  4. Omoigui, Nowa. "The Key Players of the 1966 Rebellions-Where Are They Today?". Gamji. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. Siollun, Max. Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966-1976). Algora Publishing, 2009. p. 130. ISBN 9780875867106.
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