Taiwo was born in
Wushishi,
Niger State to the family of Adeosun and Emily Taiwo. He was brought up in Kagara and was sometimes called Ibrahim Kagara while he was in school. Taiwo's father was of
Ogbomosho ancestry. Ibrahim Taiwo was educated at Senior Primary School,
Minna, Bida Middle School, and briefly attended the Provincial Secondary School, Okene, for his Higher School Certificate.
Military career Taiwo joined the military in 1961. He started military training at the
Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna and also attended
Mons Officer Cadet School,
Aldershot. While in the army, he served as a mechanical transport officer, officer commanding 2 Brigade Transport in Apapa, staff captain, Army headquarters, Lagos, officer in charge of 8 Brigade, Asaba and then officer in charge of the transport company, Kaduna. During the
Civil War, he was head of the transport and supplies division of the Nigerian Army.
Participation in the Nigerian counter-coup of July 1966 Taiwo, then a captain with the Lagos Garrison in Yaba, was one of the many officers (including 2nd Lieutenant
Sani Abacha, Lieutenant
Muhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant
Ibrahim Bako, Lieutenant Colonel
Murtala Muhammed and Major
Theophilus Danjuma, among others) who staged what became known as the
Nigerian counter-coup of 1966 because of grievances they felt towards the administration of General
Aguiyi Ironsi's government, which quelled the 15 January 1966 coup.
Participation in the Nigerian Military Coup of 1975 Taiwo played a central role in the coup that ousted
Yakubu Gowon and brought Murtala Mohammed to power, under cover of his supply and transport duties in the army, working closely with Lieutenant Colonel
Muhammadu Buhari.
Casualty of the 1976 Military Coup Taiwo was the military governor of Kwara State during the failed coup of 13 February 1976, in which the then head of state, General Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated. He was also killed by the coup plotters because of his alliance with the late head of state. General
Olusegun Obasanjo was later appointed as head of state, keeping the rest of General Murtala Mohammed's
chain of command in place. ==References==