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
Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquish ...
, Alexander Madiebo and Mike Okwechime.
He obtained further training at the
Pakistan Command and Staff College
( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi
ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی
, established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India)
, closed ...
, 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.
Death
Unegbe was murdered in his home in
Apapa
Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC ...
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.
Unegbe was the only Igbo military officer killed by the plotters. Differing opinions for his murder arose during and after the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. 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 .
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.
References
Nigerian military officers
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