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Christopher Musa, Nigeria’s minister of defence, says the alleged coup plotters had planned to shoot him if he resisted arrest.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, Musa said he was a prime “target” of the military officers who planned the botched coup.
The minister, who was chief of defence staff at the time the plot was allegedly being hatched, said the brains behind the failed putsch knew the consequences of their actions.
Musa described the putschists as “unserious individuals”, adding that he does not know what they were thinking.
“I was also a target. I am sure you know. I was supposed to be arrested and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” he said.
“Anybody who goes into a coup… because you succeed, good, you don’t succeed, whatever the consequences come, you are ready for it.
“But again, these guys were just a bunch of very unserious individuals. If you look at the calibre of persons (the coup plotters), I don’t know what got into their heads that they could take on the Armed Forces like that. Even Nigerians would have fought them.”
In October 2025, the federal government announced the cancellation of the parade earlier scheduled to celebrate the country’s 65th independence anniversary.
Days later, there were reports linking the cancellation of the independence anniversary events to an alleged coup attempt.
However, the defence headquarters (DHQ) dismissed the reports, insisting that the cancellation had no links to the alleged coup plot.
The DHQ also clarified that the arrest of 16 officers mentioned in the report was unrelated to any alleged overthrow.
On October 31, 2025, TheCable reported that 16 military officers were arrested in the first week of the month over the alleged coup attempt, while two other officers were on the run.
On January 26, the DHQ finally confirmed that there was a plot to oust President Bola Tinubu.
The plot, which the military said was uncovered in late September 2025 through joint intelligence from the army, Department of State Services (DSS), and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), allegedly involved plans to assassinate Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and other top government figures, as well as arrest senior military leaders.
TheCable
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