‘I Was Targeted To Be Arrested Or Shot By Coup Plotters,’ Says Nigerian Defence Minister, Musa

His disclosure comes days after the Armed Forces confirmed that some of the 16 officers arrested in October 2025 would be prosecuted for allegedly attempting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has revealed that he was among senior officials marked for elimination in an alleged coup plot uncovered by the military late last year.

Speaking on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, the minister said the plotters intended to arrest him and shoot him if he resisted.

His disclosure comes days after the Armed Forces confirmed that some of the 16 officers arrested in October 2025 would be prosecuted for allegedly attempting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“I was also a target,” General Musa, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), said during the programme. “I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot.”

In October, the military announced the arrest of 16 officers for what it described at the time as acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations.

However, authorities last week said subsequent investigations uncovered evidence linking some of the officers to a plot aimed at destabilising the government.

In a statement, the Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, said findings showed that certain suspects were involved in actions “inconsistent with the ethics, values, and professional standards required of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”

He added that those found to have cases to answer would be formally arraigned before a military judicial panel in line with the Armed Forces Act and other relevant service regulations.

The alleged plot was said to have extended beyond the military hierarchy, with reports suggesting that several top government officials and other prominent Nigerians were listed as potential targets.

The attempted coup has also been linked in some quarters to the cancellation of Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary parade.

Separately, the residence of former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, was reportedly raided over alleged links to the plot, though no formal charges have been publicly confirmed.

General Musa dismissed the coup plotters as lacking seriousness and capacity to challenge the Nigerian military.

“I think these were a bunch of unserious individuals,” he said. “When you look at the calibre of persons involved, I don’t know what made them think they could take on the Armed Forces.”

He further argued that any attempt to subvert democracy would have been resisted not only by the military but also by the Nigerian public.

According to him, Nigerians have a long history of opposing military rule.

“Even Nigerians would have fought them,” he said. “Nigerians have struggled against military rule for a long time, and Mr President himself was part of that struggle.

“So for anyone to imagine they could just wake up and attempt that in Nigeria, they really need to rethink.”

Nigeria experienced a series of military coups between 1966 and 1993 before returning to civilian rule in 1999.

Since then, the country has maintained a democratic system despite ongoing security and political challenges.

The alleged coup attempt comes amid a wave of military takeovers and failed plots across parts of West Africa, including a reported coup attempt in neighbouring Benin Republic late last year.

Earlier, SaharaReporters exclusively reported the arrest of a policeman alongside military officers accused of planning to overthrow the President.

The police officer, identified as Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, is from Taraba State.

SaharaReporters learnt that Ibrahim was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency and is currently in the agency’s custody.

Among the 35 military officers detained are: an Army Brigadier General, 2 Colonels, 5 Lieutenant Colonels, 1 Wing Commander (Air Force equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army), 8 Majors, 1 Lieutenant Commander (Navy equivalent of a Major in the Army), 2 Squadron Leaders (Air Force equivalent of a Major in the Army), 5 Captains, and a Lieutenant.

Also in detention are 10 non-commissioned officers (NCOs), which include a Warrant Officer, 5 Sergeants, one Corporal, and two Lance Corporals.

While one of the detained Army Captains, A. Yusuf, is from Osun State, Squadron Leader Zuzu, a senior Air Force Officer, is from Bayelsa State.

The 33 others are all from the Northern part of the country, including the FCT, with 3 officers.

Two of the officers, a Brigadier General and a Lieutenant Colonel, are from Nasarawa State; 6, including three non-commissioned officers, are from Niger State. Three are from Katsina State, including a Colonel who was undergoing a course in a North African country. Three affected officers, all Lieutenant Colonels, are from Kaduna, Plateau, and Kano States. Two Majors are both from Gombe State, while another is from Bauchi. Others are from Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Taraba, Yobe, Kogi, Sokoto, and Adamawa.

In October 2025, SaharaReporters exclusively reported how some military officers were arrested by the DIA in Abuja over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government.

The military agency, established in 1986, is Nigeria’s primary military intelligence body. It is responsible for gathering and providing intelligence to the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence to counter security threats, safeguard national integrity, and support military operations, including ongoing efforts against terrorism and insurgency.

Sources at the Defence Headquarters confirmed that the officers, drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force, were arrested in coordinated operations by military intelligence operatives following weeks of covert surveillance.

However, the Defence Headquarters initially dismissed the reports, saying the arrest of the officers mentioned in the reports was unrelated to any alleged coup plot.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters reported on January 23, 2026, that at least five of the detained officers had fallen ill while in custody, with two reportedly collapsing due to worsening conditions.

Sources disclosed that the officers were allegedly transferred from an initial DIA detention facility to an underground military cell in Abuja described as dark and poorly ventilated.

Families of the detained officers have repeatedly raised concerns over what they described as inhumane treatment, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of access to lawyers and relatives.

Some spouses told SaharaReporters that they were not informed of transfers between detention facilities and had been barred from visits since the arrests.

Despite initial official denials of any coup plot, the Defence Headquarters in a statement released last Monday formally acknowledged that allegations of plotting to overthrow the government were among the findings against some of the detained officers.