Nigeria’s government has filed charges against six former security officials, accusing them of plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, according to court documents released on Tuesday.
The alleged plot comes amid a surge in coups and attempted coups in West and Central Africa, with the latest taking place in Benin and Guinea-Bissau late last year.
Those accused include a retired major general and a serving police inspector, who face charges of terrorism and treason, according to the charge sheet. A seventh suspect, also a government official, was accused by prosecutors of helping to conceal the alleged plot and is still at large.
Authorities said the suspects “conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overawe the president of the Federal Republic,” according to the document detailing the charges.
Tinubu had led military shakeup
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, and although it experienced five coups in the 20th century, none have taken place since it transitioned to democracy in 1999.
Tinubu took office as Nigeria’s president in 2023, and in October of last year he suddenly replaced the military’s leadership in a sweeping shake-up, according to government announcements at the time.
A few months later, the government said it had foiled what it described as a coup attempt in January, announcing that a group of 16 military officers would stand trial over what military authorities described as “acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations.”
The push by Tinubu’s government to tighten internal security comes at a time of economic strain in Nigeria, while the country faces an Islamist insurgency in the north, according to security analysts.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
