1992 — The Coup That Made a 25-Year-Old Ruler

On April 29, 1992, soldiers from the war front seized Freetown's State House, and 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser, one of Africa's youngest-ever rulers, took power in Sierra Leone. His government, the NPRC, banned parties and suspended the constitution. Strasser later said he had not set out to rule. In 1996 he was ousted by his own deputy, the same circle that had brought him to power turning against him.

He ended his days in exile, a forgotten figure. Sierra Leone would endure another decade of civil war before democracy returned at last, long after the young captain's brief rule had closed.