Victor Banjo’s biography, fact, career, awards, net worth and life story

Intro Nigerian Army officer
Was Military officer
Officer
From Nigeria
Type Military
Gender male
Birth

1 April 1930, Nigeria, Nigeria

Death

22 September 1967, Biafra
(aged 37 years)

Star sign Aries
Education
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Victor Banjo (April 1, 1930 – September 22, 1967) was a Colonel in the Nigerian Army. He fought in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War. Banjo was accused of being a coup plotter against Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa by the government of Aguyi Ironsi. He was alleged to have staged a coup plot against Biafran President Odumegwu Ojukwu and was executed as a result. Ojukwu’s first military judge stated that was not enough evidence to convict him of coup charges but he was found guilty by a second military tribunal.

Career

Lt Col Victor Adebukunola Banjo was the first Nigerian Director of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps of the Nigerian Army. He joined the Army in 1953 as Warrant Officer 52 and he was the sixteenth Nigerian to be commissioned as an officer. A product of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he also obtained a B Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. His travails began after the January 15, 1966 coup, which brought Major-General Thomas Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to power.

1966 coup

Three days after Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power, Banjo was summoned to the office of the Supreme Military Commander and was arrested while he was still waiting to see the Head of State. He was accused of planning to kill the Head of State and was detained. It is suspected that Banjo was detained because it was thought that he had a hand in the 1966 coup. The coup had inflamed tribal passions and divided the military.

Banjo was detained in various prisons between January 1966 and May 1967. Northern Army leaders successfully carried out a counter-coup against Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo. Along with Ironsi , Col Fajuyi Governor of the Western Region was also killed. Banjo, a Yoruba, attempted to defend a Yoruba officer but was arrested by Lt. Colonel G. T. Kurubo and Major P. A. Anwuna and imprisoned by Gen Ironsi . Banjo proclaimed his innocence but he was refused a trial.

Biafra and death

When Biafra was proclaimed on May 30, 1967, Banjo was released from an Eastern Nigerian prison by President Odumegwu Ojukwu and made Colonel. When the Nigerian Army invaded Biafra on July 6, 1967 Ojukwu sent Banjo and Major Albert Okonkwo to invade Nigeria. Banjo was able to capture Benin City in less than a day and was able to get within 300 kilometers of then-capital Lagos. After Banjo was repulsed at the Battle of Ore, he and other officers (Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Phillip Alale, and Sam Agbam) were accused of plotting a coup against Ojukwu. After a hurried trial, that some authors characterized as biased, they were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. They were executed by firing squad on September 22, 1967.

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