Ahmadu Bello assassinated in Kaduna

On January 15, 1966, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria, was shot and killed at his residence in Kaduna during Nigeria's first military coup. The assassination was carried out by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his fellow conspirators as part of a broader plot that also targeted other regional leaders and federal officials. Bello's wife was also killed in the attack on their home.

The coup plotters, primarily young Igbo officers, were motivated by widespread frustration with political corruption, electoral fraud, and the breakdown of democratic governance following the controversial 1965 Western Region elections. They viewed the political elite, including Bello, as responsible for Nigeria's mounting problems of tribalism, corruption, and economic mismanagement. The Northern Region under Bello's leadership had been seen as particularly resistant to rapid modernization and southern influence.