Nigeria has charged six men with treason for an attempted coup against President Bola Tinubu last October, court filings show.
The move begins the judicial process in a case that has unsettled Africa’s most populous country, in a region where military takeovers have become increasingly common.
The six defendants, a mix of former army officers and civilians, are the first of over a dozen people linked to the plot to face charges. They were charged on Monday and included retired Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, a former high-ranking military commander. The men are scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, according to court officials.
Besides the six named in the charge sheet, Timipre Sylva, a former state governor and oil minister, was also linked to the plot in the court filing but will not appear with the other men on Wednesday. He remains at large. Like the other six, Mr. Sylva faces charges of treason and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. Last year, his spokesman said he was in Britain for a medical check.
West Africa has seen numerous coups and coup attempts in recent years, with several governments overthrown in Sahelian countries bordering Nigeria to the north and northwest. Nigeria itself experienced many coups in its first few decades, before transitioning to democracy in 1999.
The trial of the six men charged on Monday appears to focus only on the civilians and retired officers accused of October’s plot, while the active soldiers will face separate proceedings in military court.
One of those soldiers, Col. Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji, who was posted to the office of the National Security Adviser, was named in the filing as a central figure in the plot. The filing mentions meetings allegedly linked to “an act of terrorism” and details payments made into banking accounts held by some of the accused, offering hints but not providing a clear outline of how the coup plot developed.
In October, rumors of a failed coup attempt spread in Abuja and were stoked after the cancellation of a military parade marking Nigeria’s independence day.
At the time, Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters reported the arrest of 16 officers under investigation for professional misconduct, but said this was “a routine internal process aimed at ensuring discipline and professionalism is maintained within the ranks.”
In January, a military spokesman said that the investigation found that some of the 16 officers had tried to topple the government.
“Those with cases to answer will be formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panel to face trial,” said the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, in a statement.
Children of the arrested soldiers were taken to demonstrations in Abuja this month to protest against their fathers’ detention. They held placards that read: “Our daddies are not coupists”; “Don’t kill our daddies, hear their side first”; and “Try them in court, not in secret cells,” according to reports by Nigerian news media.
Two of the detained officers’ wives appeared on Nigerian television to complain that their husbands had been held without trial for five months. One, Shafa’atu Almakura, described her shock and disbelief that her husband had been arrested — but also her hope that he would be exonerated. She spoke of two former military rulers of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, each of whom seized power in a coup and, years later, returned to power as civilian, democratically-elected presidents.
“We are still hopeful — there are people who have been charged with these kinds of offenses,” Mrs. Almakura said. “They were cleared and they were freed and they even became presidents.”
Since assuming office in 2023, Mr. Tinubu has taken a hard line against coup plotters in the region. In December, Nigeria and ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc, helped thwart a coup attempt in neighboring Benin, reasserting Nigeria’s clout as a regional leader.
Reporting was contributed from Ismail Alfa in Maiduguri, Nigeria and Ismail Auwal in Abuja, Nigeria.
Ruth Maclean is the West Africa bureau chief for The Times, covering 25 countries including Nigeria, Congo, the countries in the Sahel region as well as Central Africa.
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