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Nigerian military officers detained over alleged coup plot
New information has come to light regarding the identities of approximately 16 Nigerian military personnel currently in custody following allegations of a conspiracy to topple the government.
Sources within the military establishment indicate that the detained group comprises fourteen Army personnel alongside one Navy and one Air Force officer. Their ranks span from brigadier general down to lieutenant, including one colonel, four officers holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, five majors, two captains, and one lieutenant.
The Navy and Air Force representatives reportedly hold ranks of Lieutenant Commander and Squadron Leader respectively—both equivalent to Army Major.
READ ALSO: Investigators uncover ₦45bn link between NDDC funds and alleged coup plot
Additional intelligence reveals that twelve Army officers are affiliated with the Infantry Corps, which serves as the primary combat division. The remaining two Army officers belong to the Signals Corps, which oversees communications infrastructure, and the Ordnance Corps, tasked with weapons systems maintenance and equipment oversight.
The majority of Army personnel in custody are reportedly affiliated with the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 56 Regular Course, having completed their training during 2004-2008. Six individuals—comprising four lieutenant colonels and two majors—are believed to have been apprehended in the initial wave of arrests. Additional officers come from the 44th, 47th, 59th, and 60th Regular Courses, along with the 38th and 43rd Short Service Commission Courses. The course backgrounds of two officers, plus the naval and air force members, have not been verified.
Sources indicate that fifteen of the sixteen detained individuals originate from Nigeria’s northern regions—specifically the North-central, North-east, and North-west zones. The sole representative from the South-west holds the lowest rank among the group—that of lieutenant.
Intelligence officials report that the conspiracy, which authorities disrupted in late September, allegedly targeted senior government figures for assassination, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
While the Defence Headquarters has not issued direct confirmation of the attempted coup, officials characterized the investigation as part of “routine internal disciplinary measures to uphold professionalism within the ranks.”
Following the discovery of the alleged conspiracy, President Tinubu implemented extensive changes to military leadership. General Christopher Musa was replaced as Chief of Defence Staff by General Olufemi Oluyede. Major General Waidi Shaibu assumed the position of Chief of Army Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke became Chief of Air Staff, and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas was appointed Chief of Naval Staff.
Major General Emmanuel Undiendeye, serving as Chief of Defence Intelligence, remained the sole senior officer to retain his position. The presidency made no public statement linking these personnel changes to the alleged conspiracy.
Intelligence sources report that while sixteen officers were initially detained, the number of individuals under investigation has grown as authorities continue their probe.
Arrests were conducted quietly, with some officers taken from their duty stations while others were apprehended at their residences.
In a connected development, military personnel allegedly conducted a raid on the Abuja home of former Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, resulting in the arrest of his brother and personal assistant. Sylva’s media representative, Julius Bokoru, rejected any association with the alleged conspiracy, noting that his principal was traveling overseas for medical treatment and official business when the raid took place.
Bokoru stated that those conducting the raid “were believed to be operatives of the Defence Headquarters,” noting that “no explanation was given for the invasion.”
He emphasized that the former minister “has no involvement whatsoever—either in planning or logistics—with any such plot.”
Security experts characterize this situation as one of the most substantial internal challenges facing the Nigerian Armed Forces in recent memory, occurring while the Tinubu administration confronts increasing political and economic pressures.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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