Since Nigeria became independent in 1960, there have been five military coups. Between 1966 and 1999, Nigeria was ruled by a military government without interruption, apart from a short-lived return to democracy under the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983. However, the most recent coup occurred in 1993, and there have been no significant further attempts under the Fourth Republic, which restored multi-party democracy in 1999.
The 1966 Nigerian Counter-coup (also known as the "July Rematch") was the second of many military coups in Nigeria. It was masterminded by Lt. Colonel Murtala Muhammed and many other northern military officers. The coup began as a mutiny at roughly midnight of 28 July 1966 and was a reaction to the killings of Northern politicians and officers by some soldiers on 15 January 1966 (see 1966 Nigerian coup d'état). The coup resulted in the murder of Nigeria's first military Head of State General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and Lt Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi (who was hosting a visiting Aguiyi-Ironsi) in Ibadan by disgruntled northern non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Upon the termination of Ironsi's government, Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was appointed Head of State by the coup conspirators.
The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there had been a series of military coups.