Very few people have heard of Emmanuel Ifeajuna,he was born in 1935,he was a high jumper who broke the record of the commonwealth olympic games without his right shoe,his victory was so resounding that he was given a rousing welcome when he returned to Nigeria,he became a national hero when his picture was used on the popular Olympic exercise book,so how did this young guy with a bright future ended up facing a firing squad?
At the 1954 Games in Vancouver , he competed wearing only his left shoe yet managed to clear 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), which was both a Games record and a British Empire record for the event.
After his gold medal win, he ceased training in the high jump and did not return to the sport. He enrolled in a science degree at the University College of Ibadan in 1954.
As a graduate, he rose quickly within the military ranks and reached the position of Major in January 1966. He was the brigade major in Lagos .
It all changed when he co-led a military coup in January 1966 in which, according to an official but disputed police report, he shot and killed Nigeria’s first prime minister, Tafawa Balewa.
He did flee to Ghana after the coup failed.
He came back to help Biafra later in the bloody civil war but was accused, by his own leader along side 3 officers, General Emeka Ojukwu of trying to plot against Biafra to sell them out in conspiracy.
He denied and said they were only trying to negotiate with Nigeria to end the war early and have one Nigeria which we have now and were trying to prevent the death of over 1 million Igbos who died in the war.
The day of the execution was 25 September, 1967, and the time 1.30pm.
Ifeajuna, Victor Banjo, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam – were tied to stakes. Ifeajuna, kept saying even moments before he died that if they did not ask for a cease fire, the Nigerian government will take hold of their capital Enugu.
The soldiers with their automatical rifles only needed to hear the commanding officer shout 'Fire', they released the bullet.
The loud sounds of the reoccurring bullets dropped their heads, they slumped, but he was right all along, they realised late.
The Nigerian troop hit Enugu that same day and after a few days, the people who were shouting "shoot them,shoot them" were running for their lives. His co-coup-plotter, Nzeogwu was buried with honour but he was stripped of his hero dignity
His name is absent from the website of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, appearing neither in the history of the Federation nor in any other section.
Amazing discovery
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