Nigerian authorities have charged six military officers over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
Published on 21 April 2026
Nigerian authorities have charged six people, including a retired major general and a serving police inspector, with “terrorism” and treason over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, according to documents filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
All six were in custody on Tuesday, while a seventh suspect, former Bayelsa state governor Timipre Sylva, who is accused of helping conceal the plot, is still at large.
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The government initially denied the existence of the alleged coup, before announcing in January that the military would prosecute several officers for planning to “overthrow the government”.
They were part of a group of 16 military officers arrested in 2025 for what military officials described as “indiscipline and violation of service rules”, sparking rumors of a coup plot, which were initially denied by the government.
Shortly after denying the alleged coup plot, President Tinubu reshuffled the country’s top military generals.
In a 13-count charge sheet, authorities said the suspects “conspired with each other to wage war against the State in order to overthrow the President of the Federal Republic”.
The accused include retired Major-General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, retired Captain Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Booker Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
The six were also accused of conspiring “with each other to commit a terrorist act” and “indirectly” but “knowingly” providing “support” to Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Maji and others “to commit a terrorist act.”
Previous Nigerian media reports have described Ma’aji as the “mastermind” of the coup.
Africa’s most populous country experienced five coups in the 20th century, but has not had one since becoming a formal democracy in 1999.
This alleged coup plot follows an increase in coups and coup attempts in West and Central Africa in recent years, the latest in Benin and Guinea-Bissau late last year.
Experts say these military takeovers follow a pattern marked by disputed elections, constitutional turmoil, security crises and youth discontent.
