Akintunde Akinsehinwa

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Akintunde Akinsehinwa
Born11 November 1944
Lagos, Nigeria
Allegiance Nigeria
Service/branch Nigerian Army
Years of service1967–1976
Rank Lieutenant
Battles/warsNigerian Civil War

Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa (11 November 1944 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian military officer and the aide-de-camp to Murtala Ramat Muhammed, the military ruler (head of state) of Nigeria from 1975 to 1976. He was killed alongside Muhammed during the February 1976 coup.

Early life

Akintunde Akinsehinwa was born in

Ondo City in Ondo State, Nigeria on 11 November 1944. He started his early education in Owo and finished his secondary school education at Edopkolo Secondary School in Benin City, Nigeria where he obtained his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (WASC) in 1963. Upon completion of his studies Akinsehinwa moved to Ibadan
in the western province of Nigeria where he worked as a clerk at the High Court.

Military career

At the commencement of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, Akintunde Akinsehinwa was recruited by the Nigerian Army and trained as an officer cadet at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State. After six months of training, Akinsehinwa was commissioned by the Army as a second lieutenant and sent to the war front to join the famous 3rd Marine Commando Division (3MCDO) under the stewardship of "The Black Scorpion" – Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, where he participated in military offensive efforts on the Calabar front to quell the secession of the Biafran separatist movement.

After the war ended in 1970, Akinsehinwa chose to undergo further

Aguiyi-Ironsi
.

Upon becoming Head of State, Murtala appointed Akinsehinwa as his

Aide-de-Camp
in Nigerian history. In a short time, Muhammed's policies won him broad popular support, and his decisiveness elevated him to the status of a national hero.

Death

On 13 February 1976, General Muhammed's motorcade was ambushed in Lagos by coup plotters and assassins amid an abortive coup d'état. The coup plotters unleashed a hail of bullets on Muhammed's black Mercedes Benz limousine (not bulletproof) killing him instantly. Muhammed's driver and orderly were also killed instantly. However, Akinsehinwa survived the initial barrage of bullets and exited the limousine to return fire. Unfortunately, he was overpowered and eventually succumbed to a hail of bullets (an autopsy revealed six bullet wounds in his back). Akintunde Akinsehinwa at 31 years of age thus became the first aide-de-camp to die in the line of duty while serving a Nigerian head of state.

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