Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe was a Nigerian military officer who was QuarterMaster-General, Army Headquarters, Lagos on January 15, 1966, the day of Nigeria's first coup.
Unegbe enlisted in the army in 1955, attended Sandhurst and was commissioned a year later along with Patrick Anwunah, Yakubu Gowon, Alexander Madiebo and Mike Okwechime.[1]
He obtained further training at the Pakistan Command and Staff College, Quetta, Pakistan, coursemates of Unegbe included Hilary Njoku and Maimalari. After his return from Pakistan, he became commander of a tactical unit in Kano, the 5th Battalion. The unit was called upon to quell riots caused by partisan agitation in the Benue valley.[2]
Death
Unegbe was murdered in his home in Apapa during the coup operation by Anuforo. He was shot in the presence of his pregnant wife. His corpse was carried to a waiting car by Non-Commissioned junior officers on the orders of Chris Anuforo who had earlier kidnapped Kur Mohammed from his house.[2] Unegbe was the only Igbo military officer killed by the plotters. Differing opinions for his murder arose during and after the civil war. Lieutenant-Colonel Unegbe was responsible for supplies which included weapons, ammunition, vehicle, equipment, clothing, and food for the Army in general. He held no command nevertheless a senior officer who was regarded as unsafe to be kept alive .[3]
On arrival at Unegbe's house, Anuforo entered alone who killed him in the presence of his wife. A reason stated that he was killed because of his refusal to hand over keys of the armory to the plotters, however, writers like Alexander Madiebo who wrote about the coup, proposed that he could not have had keys to the armory but was killed because of his close relationship to Brigadier Maimalari.[4]
References
^Siollun, Max (2009). Oil, politics and violence : Nigeria's military coup culture (1966-1976). Algora Pub. p. 122. ISBN9780875867106.
^ abTrust, Daily (21 August 2016). "British secret files on Nigeria's first bloody coup, path to Biafra". Daily Trust.
^"1966: THE ASSASSINATION OF LT. COL. ARTHUR CHINYELU UNEGBE".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Opata, Christian (2016). "10. Part IIIMemoirs and the Question of Objectivity Revisiting Alexander Madiebo's The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War and Robert Collis's Nigeria in Conflict". Writing the Nigeria-Biafra War (NED - New ed.). Boydell & Brewer. pp. 219–223. ISBN978-1-84701-144-2. JSTOR 10.7722/j.ctt1c3gxm9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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arthur, unegbe, arthur, chinyelu, unegbe, nigerian, military, officer, quartermaster, general, army, headquarters, lagos, january, 1966, nigeria, first, coup, unegbe, enlisted, army, 1955, attended, sandhurst, commissioned, year, later, along, with, patrick, a. Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe was a Nigerian military officer who was QuarterMaster General Army Headquarters Lagos on January 15 1966 the day of Nigeria s first coup Unegbe enlisted in the army in 1955 attended Sandhurst and was commissioned a year later along with Patrick Anwunah Yakubu Gowon Alexander Madiebo and Mike Okwechime 1 He obtained further training at the Pakistan Command and Staff College Quetta Pakistan coursemates of Unegbe included Hilary Njoku and Maimalari After his return from Pakistan he became commander of a tactical unit in Kano the 5th Battalion The unit was called upon to quell riots caused by partisan agitation in the Benue valley 2 Death EditUnegbe was murdered in his home in Apapa during the coup operation by Anuforo He was shot in the presence of his pregnant wife His corpse was carried to a waiting car by Non Commissioned junior officers on the orders of Chris Anuforo who had earlier kidnapped Kur Mohammed from his house 2 Unegbe was the only Igbo military officer killed by the plotters Differing opinions for his murder arose during and after the civil war Lieutenant Colonel Unegbe was responsible for supplies which included weapons ammunition vehicle equipment clothing and food for the Army in general He held no command nevertheless a senior officer who was regarded as unsafe to be kept alive 3 On arrival at Unegbe s house Anuforo entered alone who killed him in the presence of his wife A reason stated that he was killed because of his refusal to hand over keys of the armory to the plotters however writers like Alexander Madiebo who wrote about the coup proposed that he could not have had keys to the armory but was killed because of his close relationship to Brigadier Maimalari 4 References Edit Siollun Max 2009 Oil politics and violence Nigeria s military coup culture 1966 1976 Algora Pub p 122 ISBN 9780875867106 a b Trust Daily 21 August 2016 British secret files on Nigeria s first bloody coup path to Biafra Daily Trust 1966 THE ASSASSINATION OF LT COL ARTHUR CHINYELU UNEGBE a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Opata Christian 2016 10 Part IIIMemoirs and the Question of Objectivity Revisiting Alexander Madiebo s The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War and Robert Collis s Nigeria in Conflict Writing the Nigeria Biafra War NED New ed Boydell amp Brewer pp 219 223 ISBN 978 1 84701 144 2 JSTOR 10 7722 j ctt1c3gxm9 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link This Nigerian biographical article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arthur Unegbe amp oldid 1097294468, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
