- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Government is set to arraign the six senior military officers arrested over alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu.
The suspects, who include a retired major general, a retired naval captain, a serving police inspector and three others, have been slammed with a 13 count-charge and are due to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday.
They were accused of waging a war against Nigeria and committing acts of treason and terrorism.
The charges were filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and signed by Rotimi Oyedepo, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation.
NPO Reported that the military officers were arrested in October 2025.
Some of the officers identified as Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, a retired major general; Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, a retired captain; Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
Others include Timipre Sylva, former minister of state for petroleum resources, and Ahmed Ibrahim, a police inspector.
Their arrest came few days after that October 1st Independence Day celebration which was marred with the unusual cancellation of the annual parade scheduled to celebrate the country’s 65th independence anniversary.
The development would be followed by speculations that the parade was cancelled due to the alleged coup attempt.
In reaction, the Defence Headquarters initially debunked the claim as it stated that the cancellation of the parade has nothing to do with coup.
The DHQ would however confirm the plot to overthrow the President in January 2026.
According to reports, DHQ Director of Defence Information, Samaila Uba, said that investigations conducted in alignment with established military procedures found some personnel involved in a coup plot. Uba had added that the officers would be charged before relevant military judicial panels.
Furthermore, in March and April, family members of military officers were detained over an alleged coup plot on the grounds of seeking access to the coup masterminds.
Also, families of the detained military officers protested at the entrance of the national assembly to demand a speedy trial and access to their relatives.