EXCLUSIVE: Alleged Coup: Details of some detained officers emerge

Initially, the military arrested 16 officers over the alleged coup plot but insiders said the number of suspects have swollen over time.

Details have begun to emerge about the identities of at least 16 of an unknown number of Nigerian military officers currently being detained over an alleged coup plot.

According to sources familiar with the matter, fourteen of the 16 are from the Nigerian Army, while the remaining two belong to the Navy and the Air Force.

Among the Army officers are a brigadier general, a colonel, four lieutenant colonels, five majors, two captains, and a lieutenant. The two others include a Lieutenant Commander from the Navy (the naval equivalent of a Major in the Army) and a Squadron Leader from the Air Force (also equivalent to a Major).

Further details provided by sources indicate that 12 of the 14 Army officers are from the Infantry Corps, the Army’s combat arm, whose personnel primarily fight on foot. One officer serves in the Signals Corps, responsible for military communications, while another belongs to the Ordnance Corps, which handles the procurement, storage, and maintenance of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and other military hardware.

The Army suspects are predominantly members of the 56 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), who trained between 27 September 2004 and 4 October 2008. Six members of this course—four lieutenant colonels and two majors—are among the first batch of those arrested.

The remaining Army officers are drawn from other NDA courses, including the 44th, 47th, 59th, and 60th Regular Courses, as well as Short Service Commission Courses 38 and 43. The course affiliations of two Army officers, along with those of the naval and air force personnel, could not be immediately confirmed.

Our sources further disclosed that 15 of the 16 detained officers are from Nigeria’s North-central, North-east, and North-west geopolitical zones. The only exception is the most junior among them—a lieutenant from the South-west.

The ‘bloody’ coup plot

The media recently reported the Nigerian military’s commencement of a probe into a foiled coup plot involving some top officers arrested in late September.

Knowledgeable and reliable sources told this newspaper that the coup plotters planned to assassinate President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas among others.

Without categorically denying that the officers were involved in an alleged coup, the military said its probe of the officers “is a routine internal process aimed at ensuring discipline and professionalism is maintained within the ranks.”

A sudden shake-up

Weeks after the planned coup was foiled and some suspects rounded up, President Tinubu, in a major shake-up that stunned many Nigerians, sacked the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, replacing him with erstwhile Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede, a general.

He also appointed Waidi Shaibu, a major-general, as the new Chief of Army Staff, Sunday Kelvin Aneke, an air vice marshal, as Chief of Air Staff and Idi Abbas, a rear admiral as the new Chief of Naval Staff. Emmanuel Undiendeye, a major general, retained his position as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

However, the presidency did not link the shake-up to the alleged coup plot.

Covert arrests

Initially, the military arrested 16 officers but insiders said the number of suspects have swollen over time.

It was reported Wednesday that as part of the ongoing investigation, the military invaded the Abuja residence of a former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, arresting his brother who was also identified as his personal assistant.

But the former governor denied his involvement in the coup plot. Mr Sylva, through his spokesperson, Julius Bokoru, said he was traveling in the UK for medical checkup, with a plan to proceed to Malaysia for a conference.

Saying “individuals believed to be operatives of the Defence Headquarters” raided his principal’s house, Mr Bokoru, said no reason was given for the action.

Mr Sylva’s spokesperson said his principal “has no involvement whatsoever—either in planning or in logistics—with any such plot.”

Efforts to reach Mr Sylvia directly was unsuccessful. Multiple calls to his known telephone number failed to connect.