Word: nigerias
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...swarm of curious small boys to "Go 'way, go 'way, this is no place for children today." In the lobby of the Ikoyi Hotel, scrubwomen used Dettol antiseptic to scour bloodstains off the marble floor. Throughout the capital city, telephones were mysteriously out of order. Alerting Nigeria to stay tuned for an important announcement, the government radio station canceled its regular programs, filled the time with music, 15 minutes of talking drums, a taped travelogue and a well-worn recorded sermon. The needle got stuck on the words "Charity envieth not charity envieth not charity envieth...
...Nigerian army, have formally been invested with authority as head of the Nigerian armed forces." So saying, Major General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi (pronounced Agwee-yee Ironsee) abolished the constitution of Africa's most populous nation, eliminated the offices of President and Prime Minister, fired the Premiers of Nigeria's four semi-autonomous regions, and announced that military governors would take their places. Democracy, for the time being at least, was dead in Nigeria...
Mock Invasion. Its death was swift and violent. In a single night, a conspiracy led by five young Sandhurst-trained officers killed or neutralized their superiors and grabbed control of big units of the army. Then, in simultaneous strikes throughout the nation, they killed or kidnaped Nigeria's most powerful feudal lord, the Sardauna of Sokoto; its two most corrupt politicians, Finance Minister Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and Western Region Premier Chief Samuel Akintola; and its most prestigious international figure, Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa...
...troops to the homes of Prime Minister Balewa and his Finance Minister. Sir Abubakar, summoned from prayers, told his servant that "this means there is trouble," but submitted with dignity. He appeared fully dressed, arms above his head, wrists together, ready for handcuffs. Not so Okotie-Eboh, known throughout Nigeria as the king of "dash"-the word used throughout West Africa for the ever-present bribery. Producing a thick wad of bills, he tried to buy off his captors, then, dressed in pajamas, ran outside, screaming "Don't kill me!" until two soldiers knocked him down and jumped...
...military coup any black African nation has yet suffered. At least 40 civilians and 24 army officers were killed, and throughout the week bullet-stitched bodies kept turning up in such unlikely places as the 13th tee of a Lagos golf course. It was all the more shocking because Nigeria in its five years of independence has been held up as a showcase of stable African democracy. Unfortunately, the showcase was badly cracked long before the coup that shattered...