The military dictatorship in Nigeria began with the "coup d'état of 1966" which was planned and executed by a group of revolutionary Nigerian nationalist officers started as a small rebellion military cell under Emmanuel Ifeajuna, which included Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu who was the face of the coup attempt, which involved five other army majors: Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Adewale Ademoyega and Humphrey Chukwuka, it operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the post-independence period of 1960–1966. The plot received support from left-wing intellectuals, who rejected conservative elements in society, like the traditional establishment of Northern Nigeria and sought to overthrow the First Nigerian Republic.