On February 13, 1976, Nigeria woke to one of the darkest moments in its history.
Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, was assassinated in Lagos during a failed military coup led by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka.
While the attack claimed the life of the Head of State, the coup itself collapsed within hours. Military units across the country remained loyal to the government, and Dimka vanished, becoming Nigeria’s most wanted man.
What followed was one of the largest manhunts in the nation’s history.
Roadblocks sprang up across highways. Soldiers combed through towns, villages, and major cities in a determined effort to capture the officer who had plunged the country into crisis.
For nearly three weeks, Dimka evaded capture. But on March 5, 1976, his run came to an end in what was then Afikpo, in the old Anambra State.
According to widely reported accounts, Dimka checked into a hotel under the alias “Mr. C. Godwin,” claiming to be a staff member of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Enugu. He also reportedly invited a woman, identified as Miss Beatrice Agboli, to meet him at the hotel.
His conduct aroused suspicion. Information was passed to security operatives, and that night, soldiers surrounded the hotel.
Realizing he had been discovered, Dimka allegedly escaped through a bathroom window and fled into nearby bushland, abandoning his car and personal belongings.
His freedom was short-lived. The next day, near Abakaliki, Dimka was apprehended.
Accounts differ on the exact details of the arrest, but all agree he was taken into military custody after weeks on the run.
He was flown back to Lagos, tried by a Special Military Tribunal, and found guilty of treason and the murder of the Head of State.
On May 15, 1976, Dimka was executed by firing squad alongside other coup participants.
The failed coup marked a turning point for Nigeria. Following Murtala Mohammed’s assassination, General Olusegun Obasanjo assumed leadership and continued the transition programme that eventually returned the country to civilian rule in 1979.
Nearly 50 years later, the events of February 1976 remain one of the most dramatic chapters in Nigeria’s military history — a reminder of how quickly power can change and how swiftly a nation can respond to preserve it.
