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 Tuesday.
The alleged plot comes amid an increase in coups and counter-coup attempts in West and Central Africa, with the latest incident occurring in Benin and Guinea-Bissau late last year.
According to the charge sheet, the accused include a retired Major General and a serving police inspector, who face terrorism and treason charges. The seventh suspect, also a government official, was accused by prosecutors of helping to conceal the alleged plot and is still at large.
According to the document detailing the charges, authorities said the suspects “conspired with each other to intimidate the President of the Federal Republic by waging war against the State.”
Tinubu led military reshuffle
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, and although it experienced five coups in the 20th century, there have been none since the transition to democracy in 1999.
According to government announcements at the time, Tinubu was set to take over as Nigeria’s president in 2023 and in October last year he abruptly replaced the military leadership with a sweeping overhaul.
A few months later, the government said it had foiled a coup attempt in January, and announced that a group of 16 military officers would be prosecuted for what military officials described as “acts of indiscipline and violation of service rules”.
The push by the Tinubu government to tighten internal security comes at a time of economic stress in Nigeria, while the country faces an Islamist insurgency in the north, according to security analysts.
Edited by: Louis Olofse