The Accra Riots started on 28 February 1948 in Accra, the capital of present-day Ghana, which at the time was the British colony of the Gold Coast. A protest march by unarmed ex-servicemen who were agitating for their benefits as veterans of World War II was broken up by police, leaving three leaders of the group dead. Among those killed was Sergeant Nii Adjetey, who has since been memorialized in Accra.

The 28 February incident is considered "the straw that broke the camel's back", marking the beginning of the process of the Gold Coast towards being the first African colony to achieve independence, becoming Ghana on 6 March 1957.

The Big Six were six leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), one of the leading political parties in the British colony of the Gold Coast, known after independence as Ghana. They were detained by the colonial authorities in 1948 following disturbances that led to the killing of three World War II veterans. They are pictured on the front of the Ghana cedi notes.