Former First Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi Dies At 97

Chief Victoria Nwanyiocha Aguiyi-Ironsi, wife of Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s first military head of state, is dead.

She reportedly died in the early hours of Monday, August 23 at age 97.

Born on November 21, 1923, she was the second First Lady of Nigeria from January 16, 1966, to July 29, 1996, when her husband was assassinated in a counter military coup carried out by Nigerian military officers of Northern extraction.

Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed in Ibadan in the countercoup led by Murtala Muhammed, which led to the installation of then Colonel Yakubu Gowon as head of state.