Joseph Akahan

Joseph Akahan, born Joseph Akaahan Agbo, was a Nigerian military officer who served as Chief of Army Staff from May 1967 until his death in May 1968, when he was killed in a helicopter crash during the Nigerian Civil War. He was one of the leading figures in the July 1966 counter-coup that brought General Yakubu Gowon to power.

Akahan was born on 12 April 1937 in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State.

He attended Government College, Keffi, where he obtained his Cambridge School Certificate (1952-1956). He trained as an officer cadet at the RWAFF Training School, Teshi, Ghana (1957-1958), and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom (1958-1960), and was commissioned on 23 July 1960.

Akahan served with the Nigerian Contingent during the United Nations peacekeeping operations in the Congo.

In the January 1966 coup that brought Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to power, the mainly northern, Ibadan-based 4th Battalion lost its commanding officer, who was replaced by an Igbo officer, Major Nzefili. Northern officers in the battalion refused to serve under him, and Aguiyi-Ironsi replaced him with Major Joe Akahan, a northern officer of Tiv origin.

Akahan was one of the leaders of the Nigerian counter-coup of July 1966, in which Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed and replaced by General Yakubu Gowon, and during which soldiers under Akahan's command at the 4th Battalion in Ibadan killed a large number of Igbo officers. Following the coup, he stated that there would be no further killing by Northern soldiers, saying that "events had now balanced out."

Akahan was appointed Chief of Army Staff in May 1967, shortly before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War. He was said to be the originator of the concept behind the sea-borne operation led by Lt. Colonel Benjamin Adekunle that captured Bonny in July 1967.

Credited as the originator of the sea-borne operational concept that led to the capture of Bonny in July 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War.

As one of the leading figures in the July 1966 counter-coup and later as Chief of Army Staff during the opening phase of the Nigerian Civil War, Akahan played a central role in one of the most consequential and violent episodes in Nigerian military history - a period whose ethnic and political tensions contributed directly to the outbreak of the civil war.

Joe Akahan Barracks in Makurdi, capital of his home state of Benue and an early base of operations during the civil war, is named in his honour.

• 12 April 1937 — Born in Gboko Local Government Area, Benue State
• 1952-1956 — Attended Government College, Keffi
• 1957-1958 — Officer cadet training, RWAFF Training School, Teshi, Ghana
• 1958-1960 — Officer cadet training, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom
• 23 July 1960 — Commissioned
• January 1966 — Appointed commander of the 4th Battalion, Ibadan, following the January 1966 coup
• July 1966 — Led forces during the Nigerian counter-coup
• May 1967 — Appointed Chief of Army Staff
• July 1967 — Sea-borne operation captures Bonny
• May 1968 — Died in a helicopter crash; succeeded as Chief of Army Staff by General Hassan Katsina

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