Abuja, Nigeria – At least sixteen officers of the Nigerian Army, ranging in rank from Captain to Brigadier-General, have been arrested and are currently in detention for allegedly planning a coup d’état to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The detained officers are reportedly attached to the office of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which is under the leadership of the Nuhu Ribadu. One of the accused is identified as Lt. Col. Al-Makura, recently returned from a special combat course in China and posted to the NSA office a few months ago. He is said to be the nephew of a former governor.
According to a senior official of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the plot was uncovered following intelligence gathering and secret meetings by the officers who allegedly planned to seize government control. “They were planning to stage a coup and take over government,” the source said.
In a prior statement, the military had attributed the arrests to “repeated failure in promotion examinations and perceived career stagnation” and termed the detainees’ case as involving “indiscipline and breach of service regulations. The DIA official, however, rejected that explanation as the full picture.
The purported date for the planned takeover coincided with the country’s Independence Day activities on October 1, as alleged by sources who said the parade scheduled for the day was cancelled due to intelligence of a possible coup.
The detained officers are being held at undisclosed military facilities, with no current access to their families. So far, there has been no official public confirmation of the coup plot from the President’s office or the military high command. Fact-checking organisations note that as of the time of reporting, the claim remains unverified through independent channels.
A military investigation panel is reportedly being constituted to probe the matter further.