Islamization starts on the 17th? Then we strike on the 15th. Justice doesn’t wait for the calendar—it interrupts it.

Islamization starts on the 17th? Then we strike on the 15th. Justice doesn’t wait for the calendar—it interrupts it.

“Islamization starts on the 17th? Then we strike on the 15th. Justice doesn’t wait for the calendar—it interrupts it.”

In an interview with Heart to Heart with Sammy, one of the participants in the 15th January 1966 coup stated that while the coup was in the planning stage, they had to strike on the 15th to pre-empt Bello’s plan to start the process of Nigeria’s Islamisation on the 17th. According to him, the immediate causes of the coup were the Western Region crises and the intention of Sarduna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, to Islamise the country.

The Western crisis between Akintola and Obafemi triggered an influx of refugees into the military barracks. Nwobosi gave the order that the barracks gate should be opened for those who felt threatened to take refuge. He stated that the situation was so bad that thugs were pouring fuel on people, cars, and properties, and thousands were being killed. To worsen matters, the federal government was backing Akintola, and the West was tagged “Wild Wild West.”

The situation became so severe that people were asking the soldiers to intervene. Soldiers became ashamed of identifying themselves as such in public. According to him, it was at this period that Kaduna Nzeogwu—the first Nigerian to head Nigeria Military Intelligence—discovered that the Sarduna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, was planning to conquer the entire South and Islamise the entire country. Even before Nzeogwu’s discovery, Sarduna had started making innuendoes both in the Northern House of Assembly and in public, fearing no one.

With the Western crisis and the intended Islamisation policy, the military decided to strike. They were still planning when Major Kaduna Nzeogwu informed them that Sarduna had concluded arrangements to conquer Southern Nigeria on 17th January 1966, using Akintola in the West and other elements such as Adaka Boro in the East. So they had to rush their preparation and struck on the 15th.

“They didn’t strike for power—they struck to stop a conquest. Whether you call it a coup or a preemptive defense, history will always ask: What would you have done if you knew the 17th was the end of your world? Some wars are chosen; others are forced. The bullet that flies on the 15th is sometimes the only answer to the knife you see coming on the 17th.”