At least sixteen senior military officers have been detained by the Armed Forces of Nigeria for allegedly planning a coup d’etat to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, top sources have told SaharaReporters.
A coup d'état is an overt attempt by a military organisation or other government elites to unseat an incumbent person or leadership.
While the Nigerian military in a statement few days ago claimed the detention of the officers was linked to "repeated failure in promotion examinations and perceived career stagnation", top sources revealed that they were actually arrested over a coup plot.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria wishes to inform the public that a routine military exercise has resulted in the arrest of sixteen officers over issues of indiscipline and breach of service regulations,” the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau had said in an ambiguous statement.
“Investigations have revealed that their grievances stemmed largely from perceived career stagnation caused by repeated failure in promotion examinations, among other issues.
“Some of the apprehended officers had been under jurisdiction for various offences, either awaiting or undergoing trial. Their conduct was deemed incompatible with the standards of military service.”
However, a senior official of the Defence Intelligence Agency involved in the arrest told SaharaReporters 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,” the source told SaharaReporters.
“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.”
Another source added that the October 1 Independence Day parade was cancelled because of the coup attempt.
He said, “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.”
Since Nigeria became independent in 1960, there have been five successful military coups.
Recently, there have been allegations of corruption in the military which some of the officers and soldiers have blamed for their loss of interest in the country's military.
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