Ogbugo Kalu
| Ogbugo Kalu | |
|---|---|
| Born | unknown Ohafia, Colonial Nigeria |
| Died | February 2004 Ohafia, Abia State |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 1958-1967 (Nigerian Army) 1967-1970 (Biafran Army) |
| Rank |
Second Lieutenant (Nigerian Army) 1959-early 1960s Major (Nigerian Army) early 1960s-1966 Lieutenant Colonel (Nigerian Army) 1966-1967 Lieutenant Colonel (Biafran Army) 1967-68 Colonel (Biafran Army) 1968-69 Brigadier (Biafran Army) 1969-1970 |
| Commands held | Biafran 8th Battalion Biafran 52nd Brigade Biafran 63rd Brigade Biafran 14th Division |
| Battles/wars |
Nigerian Civil War Invasion of Port Harcourt Operation OAU Siege of Owerri Operation Tail-Wind |
Ogbugo Kalu (died February 2004) was a former army officer who served in both the Nigerian Army and Biafran Army. Kalu was also commander of the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in Kaduna following the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état.
Prior to Kalu's celebrated career as an officer in the Biafran Army, he had been serving in the Nigerian Army since 1958. After being given formal military training in both Ghana and the United Kingdom, Kalu was short service commissioned a Second Lieutenant in November 1959. He was later promoted to the rank of Major sometime during the first half of the 1960s.
On the night of January 15, 1966 a coup d'état was set in motion by 9 Igbo and 1 Yoruba army officers, but was short lived and quelled within 48 hours by the Igbo Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who then assumed total leadership over Nigeria. Gen. Ironsi appointed Maj. Kalu commandant of the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna due to the fact that it's incumbent commander, Col. Ralph Shodeinde, was assassinated by a detachment of mutinous soldiers led by Maj. Timothy Onwuatuegwu on the night of the coup. He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel in May 1966.
On July 29, 1966 a second coup d'état took place after a majority of the Nigerian Army led by 32 army officers rose up against Ironsi's dictatorship and assassinated him along with several other Igbo officers and politicians. Kalu hosted an early afternoon meeting at his house in Kaduna where he informed several south-eastern officers about the coup and that their lives were in danger, these officers included Lt. Col. Alexander Madiebo, Maj. Christopher Emelifonwu, Maj. Ayodele Ogunro, and Maj. Samuel Ogbemudia. After hearing that both Maj. Emelifonwu and Maj. Ogunro were murdered by Hausa-Fulani soldiers in Kaduna, Lt. Col. Kalu made his way to a railroad depot where he managed to stowaway inside the water-tank of a train destined for south-eastern Nigeria.
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Wikipedia