1989: Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lengani
September 18th, 2009 Headsman
This evening in 1989, the number two and three men in Burkina Faso’s military government were seized and summarily executed for allegedly plotting a coup of their own.
Lengani and Zongo
Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lengani certainly had the pedigree for it; they’d conspired along with Blaise Compaore in the 1983 putsch that brought Thomas Sankara to power … and then Zongo, Lengani and Compaore had overthrown Sankara four years later.
On this date, a triumvirate increasingly strained by personal rivalries and economic disagreements was unilaterally dissolved.
According to the official announcement, Zongo and Lengani planned to seize the airport while President Compaore was out of the country, shooting down his returning plane if necessary.
Whether accurate or pretext, their elimination (along with two other conspirators) helped Compaore consolidate his hold on Burkina Faso — a country he still governs to this day.
On this day..
- 1809: Six at Halifax for the mutiny aboard the HMS Columbine - 2020
- 1973: Charles Horman, American journalist in the Pinochet coup - 2019
- 1868: Melvin Baughn, Pony Express rider turned horse thief - 2018
- 1727: Three at Tyburn - 2017
- 96: Domitian assassinated after condemning an astrologer - 2016
- 1685: Krystof Alois Lautner, Witch Hammer victim - 2015
- 1306: Nigel de Brus, brother of the King - 2014
- 1953: Louisa May Merrifield, elder abuser - 2013
- 1959: Harvey Glatman, signature killer - 2012
- 1755: Mark and Phillis, a landmark - 2011
- 1944: Six Jesuits in Palau - 2010
- 1589: Dietrich Flade, for leniency towards evildoers - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Borderline "Executions",Burkina Faso,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,History,No Formal Charge,Power,Shot,Soldiers,Summary Executions,Treason
Tags: 1980s, 1989, blaise compaore, coup d'etat, henri zongo, jean-baptiste boukary lengani, september 18
