Alleged Coup: President Tinubu Appoints New Service Chiefs as New Details of Involved Army Officers Emerge!

President Bola Tinubu has carried out a sweeping overhaul of Nigeria’s military leadership, weeks after a planned coup attempt was thwarted and several suspects arrested.

In a move that surprised many Nigerians, Tinubu dismissed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and appointed former Chief of Army Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, as his replacement.

The President also named Major-General Waidi Shaibu as the new Chief of Army Staff; Air Vice Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke as Chief of Air Staff; and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas as Chief of Naval Staff. Major-General Emmanuel Undiendeye retains his post as Chief of Defence Intelligence.

COUP DETAILS EMERGE

According to Premium Times, details have begun to emerge about the identities of at least 16 of an unknown number of Nigerian military officers currently being detained over an alleged coup plot.

According to sources familiar with the matter, fourteen of the 16 are from the Nigerian Army, while the remaining two belong to the Navy and the Air Force.

Among the Army officers are a brigadier general, a colonel, four lieutenant colonels, five majors, two captains, and a lieutenant. The two others include a Lieutenant Commander from the Navy (the naval equivalent of a Major in the Army) and a Squadron Leader from the Air Force (also equivalent to a Major).

Further details provided by sources indicate that 12 of the 14 Army officers are from the Infantry Corps, the Army’s combat arm, whose personnel primarily fight on foot. One officer serves in the Signals Corps, responsible for military communications, while another belongs to the Ordnance Corps, which handles the procurement, storage, and maintenance of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and other military hardware.

The Army suspects are predominantly members of the 56 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), who trained between 27 September 2004 and 4 October 2008. Six members of this course four lieutenant colonels and two majors are among the first batch of those arrested.

The remaining Army officers are drawn from other NDA courses, including the 44th, 47th, 59th, and 60th Regular Courses, as well as Short Service Commission Courses 38 and 43. The course affiliations of two Army officers, along with those of the naval and air force personnel, could not be immediately confirmed.

A source further disclosed that 15 of the 16 detained officers are from Nigeria’s North-central, North-east, and North-west geopolitical zones. The only exception is the most junior among them, a lieutenant from the South-west.

Share this story