- Safiu Kehinde
No fewer than 16 senior military officers have been detained by the Nigerian Armed Forces of Nigeria over alleged coup d’etat plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that the military had recently announced the detention of the officers with indiscipline and breach of service regulations, cited as reasons behind the detention.
The Nigerian army in the statement issued by its Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, claimed the detained officers breached the service regulations over repeated failure in promotion examinations and perceived career stagnation
However, an exclusive report by Sahara Reporters disclosed that the officers were actually arrested over a coup plot.
According to the report, a senior official of the Defence Intelligence Agency involved in the arrest told revealed that the officers led by an Army Brigadier General were planning to stage a coup and take over government from “selfish politicians”.
He said the coup attempt was thwarted after an intelligence gathering by the DIA and sister agencies.
“The 16 officers were planning a coup. The military authorities were just being diplomatic in the statement released by the spokesperson. They have started doing secret meetings on how to overthrow the President and other top government officials,.
“They’re all officers within the rank of Captain to Brigadier-General and are still in detention at DIA as we talk. They were picked recently at their various houses around the country. Their main objective was to overthrow President Tinubu and announce a military government.” the source told Sahara Reporters.
Another source claimed that the October 1 Independence Day parade was cancelled because of the coup attempt.
“Yes, they were arrested for planning to stage a coup and take over government.
“That was the main reason why the Independence Day parade scheduled to hold on Wednesday, October 1 as part of activities marking the country’s 65th Independence Anniversary was cancelled.
“This was because intelligence reports showed they planned the coup on October 1st during a military parade. So the National Security Adviser and other service chiefs asked the Tinubu-led government to cancel the parade earlier scheduled to mark the day.
“Their plan was to shoot at the President and other top politicians during the event. The move by the military authorities announcing their arrests was to douse tension.” The source said.