{{short description|Nigerian Army officer}} {{Use Nigerian English|date=January 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Victor Banjo | birth_name = Victor Adebukunola Banjo | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|04|01|df=y}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|9|22|1930|04|01|df=y}} | birth_place = British Nigeria | death_place = Biafra | relatives = {{unbulleted list|Adetowun Ogunsheye (sister)|Ademola Banjo (brother)}}<ref name="Reference1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKxNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|title=Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966-1976)|last=Siollun|first=Max|publisher=Algora Publishing|year=2009|page=75|isbn=978-0-875-8670-83}}</ref> | spouse = Taiwo Banjo | children = Olayinka Omigbodun, née Banjo (daughter) + 3 others<ref name="Reference2">{{cite news|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/victor-banjos-daughter-ojukwu-betrayed-father-killing/|location=Lagos, Nigeria|last =Odufowokan|first =Dare|date=8 October 2017|title=Victor Banjo's daughter: Ojukwu betrayed my father by killing him|access-date=15 February 2018|newspaper=The Nation}}</ref> | conviction = being a coup plotter against Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa by the government of Aguyi Ironsi<ref name="Reference3">{{Cite book|title=Why we struck : the story of the first Nigerian coup|last=Ademoyega, Adewale.|date=1981|publisher=Evans Bros|isbn=978167167X|location=Ibadan, Nigeria|oclc=11523780}}</ref><br>staging a coup plot against Biafran President Odumegwu Ojukwu<ref name="Reference4">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I6f3AgAAQBAJ&q=Victor+Banjo&pg=PT53|title=The Struggle for Modern Nigeria: The Biafran War 1967-1970|last=Gould|first=Michael|publisher=I.B.Tauris (International Library of African Studies)|year=2011|isbn=9780857730954}}</ref> | conviction_penalty = Death by firing squad | conviction_status = Deceased | image = | caption = | nickname = | resting_place = | module = {{Infobox military person |embed = yes |alma_mater = R.M.A. Sandhurst |branch = border|23px Nigerian Army |allegiance = {{flag|Nigeria}}<br>{{flag|Biafra}} |service_years = 1953-1967 |rank = Lieutenant Colonel |commands = {{unbulleted list|101st Division|104th Division}}<ref name="Reference5">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1wuAQAAIAAJ|page=163|title=A tragedy without heroes: the Nigeria-Biafra war|author=Hilary M. Njoku|publisher=Fourth Dimension|year= 1987|isbn=978-9-781-562-389}}</ref> |battles = {{unbulleted list|Nigerian Civil War}} |awards = |other_work = |signature = }} }}
'''Victor Adebukunola Banjo'''{{Audio|Victor_Adebukunola_Banjo.wav|listen}} (1 April 1930 – 22 September 1967) was a colonel in the Nigerian Army. He fought in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Adewole |first=Segun |date=2021-01-15 |title=Pictorial: Key actors of Nigeria's Civil War (1966-1970) |url=https://punchng.com/pictorial-key-actors-of-nigerias-civil-war-1966-1970/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |newspaper=The Punch|language=en-US}}</ref> Banjo was accused of being a coup plotter against Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa by the government of Aguyi Ironsi.<ref name="Reference3"/> He was alleged to have staged a coup plot against Biafran President Emeka Ojukwu<ref name="Reference4"/> and was executed as a result. Ojukwu's first military judge stated that was not enough evidence to convict him of coup charges, but he was found guilty by a second military tribunal.
==Military career pre-1966 coup== Lieutenant Colonel Banjo was the first Nigerian Director of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps of the Nigerian Army. He joined the Army in 1953 as Warrant Officer 52 and he was the sixteenth Nigerian to be commissioned as an officer. A product of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he also obtained a BSc in mechanical engineering.
==Arrest== His travails began after the 15 January 1966 coup, which brought Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to power.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gongnews.net/letter-from-colonel-banjo-to-general-ironsi-in-1966/|title=Letter from Colonel Banjo to General Ironsi in 1966|website=Gongnews|access-date=7 July 2015|archive-date=11 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711024351/http://www.gongnews.net/letter-from-colonel-banjo-to-general-ironsi-in-1966/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Three days after Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power, Banjo was summoned to the office of the Supreme Military Commander and was arrested while he was still waiting to see the head of state. Banjo, a Yoruba,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5Q78sVbLakC&q=Victor+Banjo&pg=PA30|title=Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966-1976)|last=Siollun|first=Max|publisher=Algora Publishing|year=2009|isbn=9780875867106}}</ref> attempted to defend a Yoruba officer,{{Who|date=December 2020}} but was arrested by Lieutenant Colonel G. T. Kurubo and Major P. A. Anwuna and imprisoned by General Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was accused of planning to kill the head of state. Banjo proclaimed his innocence, but was denied a trial. It is suspected{{By whom|date=April 2019}} that Banjo was detained because it was thought that he had a hand in the 1966 coup. The coup had inflamed tribal passions and divided the military. Banjo was detained in various prisons between January 1966 and May 1967. Northern Army leaders successfully carried out a counter-coup against Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo. Ironsi and Colonel Fajuyi, Governor of the Western Region, were killed.
==Biafra, civil war and death==
When Biafra was proclaimed on 30 May 1967, Banjo was released from an Eastern Nigerian prison by President Odumegwu Ojukwu and promoted to colonel. When the Nigerian Army invaded Biafra on 6 July 1967, Ojukwu sent Banjo and Major Albert Okonkwo to invade Nigeria. Banjo was able to capture Benin City in less than a day and was able to get within 300 kilometers of then-capital Lagos. After Banjo was repulsed at the Battle of Ore, he and other officers (Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Phillip Alale, and Sam Agbam) were accused of plotting a coup against Ojukwu.<ref name="Oliver-Brian">{{cite book|last1=Oliver|first1=Brian|title=The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories behind the Medals|date=22 May 2014|publisher=A&C Black, 2014|isbn=9781472908438|pages=110–111}}</ref> After a hurried trial,<ref name="Baxter">{{cite book|last1=Baxter|first1=Peter|title=Biafra: The Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970|date=19 January 2015|publisher=Helion and Company, 2015|isbn=9781909982369|page=28}}</ref> that some authors characterized as biased,<ref name="Umweni">{{cite book|last1=Umweni|first1=Samuel Enadeghe|title=888 Days in Biafra|year=2007|publisher=iUniverse, 2007|isbn=9780595425945|page=34}}</ref> they were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. They were executed by firing squad on 22 September 1967.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{cite web|url=http://www.banjo.plus.com/Page%203_%20with%20family.htm|title=Victor Banjo: Family Archives}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Banjo, Victor}} Category:1930 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Yoruba military personnel Category:Nigerian Army officers Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Category:Recipients of Nigerian presidential pardons Category:Biafran Armed Forces personnel Category:Separatism in Nigeria Category:People executed for treason Category:Executed Nigerian people Category:People executed by Nigeria by firing squad Category:20th-century executions by Nigeria Category:Military personnel killed in the Nigerian Civil War Category:Nigerian military personnel killed in action