Iliya D. Bisalla (died 11 March 1976) was a Major General in the

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

and Commissioner of Defence (title is now

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

) under the military administration of General

Murtala Mohammed Murtala Ramat Muhammed (; 8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian military officer and the fourth head of state of Nigeria. He led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the military regime of Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi a ...

, the 4th Nigerian Head of State.

Military career

Bisalla was a course mate of General

Hassan Katsina Hassan Usman Katsina (31 March 1933 – 24 July 1995), titled Chiroman Katsina, was a Nigerian general who was the last Governor of Northern Nigeria. He served as Chief of Army Staff during the Nigerian Civil War and later became the Deput ...

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

. Before becoming the Defense Commissioner, General Bisalla was the

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) 1st Infantry Division of the

from Sep 1969 to December 1973, and also Commandant of the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna.

Implication and Conviction in the abortive February 1976 Coup Attempt

General Bisalla was implicated by Colonel Dimka's confessional statements after investigations into the abortive 13 February 1976 Dimka led coup which resulted in General Mohammed's assassination. Bisalla was controversially convicted of conspiracy and concealment of treason by the secret Special Military Tribunal; and as a result, Bisalla's complicity is not clear (e.g., the Federal Military Government (FMG) asserted that Bisalla gave Dimka operational orders while Dimka, under interrogation, stated that another officer (Major Rabo) provided the operational orders). Importantly, Dimka's confessional was not corroborated and Dimka was known to have provided inconsistent testimonies and drank beer while being interrogated.

Death

General Bisalla along with 31 other alleged co-conspirators some clearly guilty (such as Colonel Dimka and Lt. William Seri) and others whose guilt remain questionable (such as

Joseph Gomwalk Joseph Dechi Gomwalk (13 April 1935 – 15 May 1976) was a Nigerian police commissioner and the first military governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State. He was tried and then executed due to his alleged connections to the Buka Suka Dimka's att ...

) were executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

on 11 March 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisalla, Illiya Defence ministers of Nigeria Nigerian generals People executed by Nigeria by firing squad 20th-century executions by Nigeria Executed Nigerian people Nigerian Defence Academy people Nigerian Defence Academy Commandants Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 1976 deaths