The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has detained 16 senior military officers, including a Brigadier General, over an alleged plot to overthrow the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to top military sources, 12 of the 14 Army officers in custody belong to the Infantry Corps — the Army’s frontline combat unit — while one serves in the Signals Corps, which oversees communications, and another in the Ordnance Corps, responsible for weapons and logistics.
The detained officers include Brigadier General Musa Abubakar Sadiq (N/10321), who is alleged to be the suspected leader of the plot. He was previously detained in 2024 for alleged diversion of rice palliatives and illegal sale of military equipment.
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Others on the list are Colonel M.A. Ma’aji from Niger State; Lieutenant Colonel S. Bappah from Bauchi; Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Hayatu from Kaduna; Lieutenant Colonel P. Dangnap from Plateau; Lieutenant Colonel M. Almakura from Nasarawa; and Majors A.J. Ibrahim, M.M. Jiddah, M.A. Usman, D. Yusuf, and I. Dauda from different parts of the country.
Also detained are Captain Ibrahim Bello, Captain A.A. Yusuf, Lieutenant S.S. Felix, Lieutenant Commander D.B. Abdullahi of the Nigerian Navy, and Squadron Leader S.B. Adamu of the Nigerian Air Force.
Sources disclosed that the officers are being held at a DIA facility in Abuja pending the outcome of investigations. The agency has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, but military insiders say the arrests followed weeks of intelligence gathering on suspicious meetings and communications among the officers.
The alleged coup plot reportedly triggered heightened security operations in Abuja, including the raid on the residence of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in Maitama. Security operatives reportedly linked a “former South-South governor” to the meetings held with some of the detained officers.
Sylva later confirmed the military raid but denied any involvement in a coup plot, describing the operation as “misguided.”
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters has dismissed claims of a brewing coup, assuring Nigerians of the military’s loyalty to President Tinubu and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Security analysts have described the development as one of the most serious internal probes in recent years, warning that it underscores rising tensions within the security establishment.