Sierra Leone (SLE)West Africa, AfricaApril 18, 1968
Event Summary
On April 18, 1968 a group of Sierra Leonean non-commissioned officers and privates staged the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement, a sergeants' revolt that overthrew the ruling National Reformation Council junta, arrested its officers, restored the suspended constitution, and returned power to Siaka Stevens, the man whose 1967 election victory two successive coups had denied. The NRC, chaired by Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith, had governed since March 1967 after the twin coups that first blocked and then confirmed the annulment of Stevens's win. Its rule proved unpopular, and in April 1968 the enlisted ranks mutinied against their own officers, detaining NRC members, deposing army and police officers, and inviting the formerly dismissed senior officer John Amadu Bangura to head the army.
Power was handed back to Stevens, who at last assumed the office of prime minister he had been sworn into thirteen months earlier. The revolt restored civilian, elected government, though Stevens would later build a long one-party dominance. The deposed junta leaders were removed and not physically harmed in the takeover, though NRC members were imprisoned.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith, chairman of the National Reformation Council, deposed on April 18, 1968 by the ACRM sergeants' revolt; the junta members were arrested but not physically harmed in the takeover.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Andrew Juxon-Smith (NRC chairman deposed)
John Amadu Bangura (dismissed officer invited to head the army)
Siaka Stevens (rightful prime minister restored to office)
Sources
The National Reformation Council, with Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith as chairman, which had seized control on March 23, 1967, was overthrown in April 1968 by a group of military officers who called themselves the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement, led by Brigadier John Amadu Bangura.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, National Reformation Councilopen source ↗
The NRC was overthrown in April 1968 by a sergeants' revolt, the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement; NRC members were imprisoned, army and police officers were deposed, the democratic constitution was restored, and power was handed back to Stevens, who at last assumed the office of prime minister, with John Bangura, a formerly dismissed senior officer, invited to head the army.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Sierra Leone (1961-1971)open source ↗
A US Embassy history records that the National Reformation Council under Brigadier A.T. Juxon-Smith was in turn overthrown in April 1968 by a sergeants' revolt, the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement, restoring the path to civilian rule under Siaka Stevens.
SOURCE REVIEWEDUS Embassy in Sierra Leone, Policy and Historyopen source ↗
The 1967 election had been won by Siaka Stevens's All People's Congress in the first ballot-box defeat of a ruling party in independent sub-Saharan Africa outside white-ruled states, but the APC was overthrown in a military coup hours after taking power and was restored to office after a counter-coup the following year, establishing a long-standing dictatorship.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1967 Sierra Leonean general electionopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Arc closer: this April 18, 1968 ACRM revolt CLOSES the Sierra Leone 1967 sequence, restoring Siaka Stevens after the two March 1967 coups (Lansana's March 21 and the NRC's March 23, both enriched in batch 19). Fate coding: the deposed junta chairman Juxon-Smith and the NRC members were arrested and imprisoned but not physically harmed in the takeover, matching the dataset's not physically harmed fate for the deposed leadership. Significance: this is a rare instance of a coup restoring rather than overturning an elected government, though sources note Stevens later consolidated a one-party dominance. Date note: sources date the revolt to April 1968, with April 18 the dataset's specific date.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith, chairman of the National Reformation Council, deposed on April 18, 1968 by the ACRM sergeants' revolt; the junta members were arrested but not physically harmed in the takeover..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Coup Reported in Sierra Leon; Junta Chiefs Said to be Arrested,” April 19, 1968
“SIERRA LEONE CALLS EX-CHIEF A TRAITOR,” September 26, 1968
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →