Nigerian soldiers from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) hold Kalashnikovs at the MNJTF military base, Sector 3 Headquarters, in Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, July 5, 2025. (Photo: CFP)
Nigeria's military said on Monday that several officers arrested last year for misconduct will face trial over allegations that they plotted to overthrow the government, marking the first official acknowledgment of a suspected coup attempt that authorities had previously denied.
In a statement, the military said it completed investigations into the October 2025 arrest of 16 officers and forwarded the findings to senior authorities in line with military regulations.
"The findings have identified a number of the officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government," said Major General Samaila Uba, the Defence Headquarters spokesperson. "Those with cases to answer will be formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panel to face trial."
The military did not provide details of the alleged plot or specify how many of the 16 officers were implicated. No trial dates were announced. Legal experts said those convicted could face the death penalty under military law.
The officers were initially detained over what the military described at the time as "issues of indiscipline." The government publicly denied reports of a coup plot, despite accounts from security and government sources suggesting the arrests were linked to an alleged attempt to unseat President Bola Tinubu.
Nigeria has a long history of military takeovers and spent much of the 20th century under transitional governments before returning to civilian governance in 1999. A successful coup would have ended more than 25 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in Africa's most populous country.
Shortly after the arrests, President Tinubu reshuffled the military's top leadership in a sweeping overhaul aimed at strengthening security. At the time, a senior administration official told AFP: "Normally when such a thing happens, it means there is a gap in intelligence. No leader would accept that."
The military is currently stretched across multiple fronts, battling Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province in the northeast, armed criminal gangs in the northwest, and separatist violence in the southeast. Analysts have warned that mounting security pressures, combined with reports of poor conditions and delayed pay for troops, could heighten instability.