Halilu Akilu

Halilu Akilu or Haliru Akilu is a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier General who served as Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Chief of Defence Intelligence, and Director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

Early life and education
Akilu graduated from the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1970 as a member of the NDA's 3rd Regular Combatant Course. His graduating class included officers such as Brig-Gen (and later Senator) David Mark, Gen. Tunde Ogbeha, Gen. Alwali Kazir, Gen.Raji Rasaki, Gen. Chris Garuba, Gen. Abdulkareem Adisa, Adm. Mike Akhigbe and Gen. Tunji Olurin.

Career
Akilu as a Major in the early 1980s, was the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army's 146th Infantry Battalion that suppressed (along with the 202nd Armoured Battalion ) the Maitatsine religious riots. Akilu later served as Director of the Army's Directorate of Military Intelligence and twice served as Chief of Defence Intelligence (from 1985 to 1986 and in 1990).

Participation in the 1983 military coup d'état
Then Lt-Colonel Akilu played a coordinating role in the coup that ousted the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari and installed Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as military head of state on December 31, 1983

Participation in the 1985 military coup d'état
Then Lt-Colonel Akilu played a major coordinating role as (Director of Military Intelligence) in the August 27, 1985 coup that ousted the Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari's regime and installed Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to power as Nigeria's Head of State. Akilu and Babangida have a close relationship in that Akilu's wife and the Babangida's wife (the late Maryam Babangida are cousins. Gen. Babangida (then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) exploited his closeness to Akilu and other graduates of the NDA's Regular Course 3 (Babangida was an NDA instructor in the early 70s) to hatch the 1985 palace coup. Akilu was strategically placed in the DMI as a mole and counterweight to Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi, Gen. Buhari’s loyal Director of the Nigerian Security Organization (NSO).

Alleged role in the Dele Giwa Affair
Akilu as Director of the DMI is alleged to have played a controversial role in the Dele Giwa parcel bomb blast affair. On October 18, 1986 Giwa's wife, Funmi received a call from the office of then Col Akilu who took Giwa's home address and informed Funmi that Gen. Babangida's ADC would stop by to drop off an item for Dele Giwa. Funmi Giwa is said to have interacted with Akilu on previous occasions so was familiar with Akilu's voice. On October 19, 1986 Akilu had a 10-minute conversation with Dele Giwa during which Akilu assured Giwa that charges the government had on Giwa were going to be dropped. This conversation is said to have occurred about 40 minutes before 2 men in a white Peugeot 504 sedan dropped off a parcel for Dele Giwa which was delivered to Giwa by Giwa's son (Billy). Billy Giwa reportedly noted that the parcel bore the inscription "From the office of the C-in-C" and was marked "secret and confidential". Dele Giwa was killed by the bomb that detonated when Giwa opened the parcel. Investigations were conducted into the Giwa assassination but the murder remains unsolved.