strange rumors

This coup actually took place on the night of January 14, 1966. It was organized by a group of Nigerian army commanders, almost all of whom were Ibos, outraged by the corruption of politicians and the adherence of state- major to the status quo.
Prominent politicians and military leaders are killed, and rebel officers seize power in the three regions. But, in Lagos. the coup fails. Certainly, the Prime Minister is killed, but General Johnson A. Ironsi, Ibo himself, escapes and succeeds in rallying the troops of Lagos. When Ironsi announces he is taking central power and appointing military governors in each region, the rebels submit to avert civil war.
As news of the coup spreads State joy breaks out in the country. Even in the North, it seems that very few regret the regime. But to strengthen his position, Ironsi should dissipate the fears of part of the population, who saw in the coup an Ibo action beneficial to the Ibos alone, and show without delay that he considered popular demands legitimate. However, he will take no measures to satisfy them and will surround himself only with Ibo advisers.
Therefore, it is easy for fallen politicians to suggest that the southern tribes will 'seize power and that the people of the North will lose their jobs and their freedom.
In May, it is announced that the regions are to be abolished, which seems to confirm these rumors. Immediately, a crowd of unemployed, vagabonds, bandits, secretly encouraged by local politicians, began to massacre and mutilate the Igbo population living in the northern territories. In July, Ironsi and more than two hundred Ibo officers and soldiers were in turn killed by northern soldiers during bloody riots that took place in the northern and western regions.
Once Ironsi disappeared, Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a man from the North but who belongs to an ethnic minority and is not of the Muslim religion, becomes commander-in-chief. He immediately had to deal with three demands:the populations of the northern territories demanded secession; those in the eastern territories want a federation between the existing regions; the ethnic minorities want the regions to be dissolved.
But in September, while these various demands are being studied, another massacre of the Ibo population, even more terrible, takes place in the North . Its purpose is apparently to permanently cut the existing links between the northern territories and the rest of the country.
This new massacre causes the immediate exodus of almost all the Ibos. Whatever their rank and their activities, they abandon their possessions and flee towards the east. In these circumstances, the military governor of the region, Colonel Odumegu Ojukwu, will become the spokesman and leader of the Ibos. Rumors of a possible secession of their territories are now circulating.