Gideon Gwaza Orkar

Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar was a Nigerian Army officer who led an attempted coup against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida on 22 April 1990. Orkar and his co-conspirators seized the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) station, several military posts around Lagos, and the Dodan Barracks - the military headquarters and presidential villa - during which Babangida narrowly escaped through a back route. In his coup address, Orkar controversially called for the excision of five northern states from the Nigerian federation. The coup was crushed within hours, and Orkar and 41 co-conspirators were tried, convicted of treason, and executed.

Gideon Orkar was the ninth child of Levi Orkar Chi, a teacher of Tiv heritage, in Apir village, Makurdi Local Government Area, Benue State. He attended primary school in Apir and Wadata, before attending Boys Secondary School, Gindiri, in Plateau State.

While pursuing his Higher School Certificate, Orkar responded to a Nigerian Army recruitment advertisement and joined the army in 1972 as Cadet No. 682, beginning officer cadet training at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, with the 12th Regular Combatant Course. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in December 1974 and posted to the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps School, Ibadan.

Orkar served as part of the Nigerian peacekeeping contingent in Chad in 1978, and in various units including the Reconnaissance Unit at Kaduna, the 82 Division at Enugu, and the Armoured School, Bauchi. In 1986, he attended Senior Officers' Course 9 at the Command and Staff College, Jaji. He later commanded the Saki 22 Armoured Battalion in Oyo State, and his final posting before the April 1990 coup was as a member of the Directing Staff at the Command and Staff College, Jaji.

On 22 April 1990, Major Orkar led a coup attempt against the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida. His forces seized the FRCN radio station, several military posts around Lagos, and the Dodan Barracks - the military headquarters and presidential villa - where Babangida was present but escaped through a back route. In his coup broadcast, Orkar announced the excision of five northern states from the Nigerian federation, a declaration that remains among the most controversial elements of the episode. The coup was suppressed within hours by loyalist forces.

Rose to the rank of Major in the Nigerian Army. Served in the Nigerian peacekeeping contingent in Chad (1978) and completed the Senior Officers' Course at the Command and Staff College, Jaji (1986).

The April 1990 coup attempt led by Orkar is remembered as one of the most consequential and controversial episodes in Nigerian military history, both for its scale - reaching the presidential villa itself - and for Orkar's explicit call to excise five northern states from the federation, a statement that provoked lasting debate about regionalism and ethnic tension within Nigeria's military and political establishment.

Orkar's coup attempt and execution remain a significant reference point in discussions of Nigerian civil-military relations, regionalism, and the political tensions of the Babangida era.

• 4 October 1952 — Born at Apir, Makurdi Local Government Area, Benue State
• 1972 — Joined the Nigerian Army as Cadet No. 682
• December 1974 — Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Nigerian Army Armoured Corps School, Ibadan
• 1978 — Served in the Nigerian peacekeeping contingent in Chad
• 1986 — Attended Senior Officers' Course 9, Command and Staff College, Jaji
• 22 April 1990 — Led a coup attempt against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida
• 27 July 1990 — Convicted of treason and executed by firing squad

• Wikipedia contributors. "Gideon Orkar." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_Orkar
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• Ihundu, F. Y. Major Gideon Orkar: The Making of a Revolutionary. Makurdi: Cuban Press, 2004, pp. 11-17.
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