Ibrahim Bako
| Ibrahim Bako | |
|---|---|
| Acting General Officer Commanding, 1st Mechanized Division, Nigerian Army | |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater |
Nigerian Military Training College RMA Sandhurst |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch |
 Nigerian Army
|
| Years of service | 1961 – 1983 |
| Rank | Brigadier |
Brigadier Ibrahim Bako (1941 - December 31, 1983) was a senior officer in the Nigerian Army who played a principal role in two Nigerian military coups: the July 1966 counter-coup and the December 1983 coup. The 1983 coup ousted the democratic government of Shehu Shagari while the July 1966 coup ousted the military government of General Ironsi. Bako was killed while attempting to arrest President Shehu Shagari during the December 1983 coup d'état.
Ibrahim Bako was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1963 as a Lieutenant after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Bako (then a Lt Colonel) served as a logistics officer on the National Census Board for the 1973 census. At a point in his career, Ibrahim Bako led the Nigerian Army contingent that facilitated the transfer of about 100 former guerrillas from the Zimbabwean bushes (after the liberation struggle) for selection and training at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna in 1980. Those 100 former guerrillas formed the pioneer corp of the post-independence Zimbabwe National Army. As of December 31, 1983, Bako was Director of the Army Faculty at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, and acting GOC 1 Mechanised Division, Kaduna.
The July 28, 1966 mutiny (often called the Nigerian Counter-Coup of 1966) was a violent overthrow of General Aguiyi-Ironsi's military government, which came into power after the abortive January 15 coup, spearheaded by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Lt Col Kaduna Nzeogwu. A group of military officers of northern Nigerian origin (including then Lts Ibrahim Bako, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, Captain Joe Garba, Lt Col Murtala Muhammed, Lt Theophilus Danjuma, among others) conspired and mutinied against General Ironsi's military government. Among the casualties of the mutiny were General Aguiyi Ironsi and Lt Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi. During reconnaissance for the counter coup, then Lt Col Murtala Mohammed would drive to Ibadan (where Bako was stationed along with others like then Lt Jerry Useni), Muhammed would often drive into town from Lagos, pick up Ibrahim Bako and Abdullai Shelleng at a pre-arranged location and drive around without stopping while they discussed their counter-coup plan.
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Wikipedia