Coup: How Alleged Plot to Kill Tinubu Was Uncovered, Details Emerge
- A probe by Nigeria's military found that some of the 16 officers arrested in 2025 for misconduct may have been plotting to overthrow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government
- The officers were detained in October 2025, and those now accused of plotting a coup will face a military judicial panel
- Tinubu, in October 2025, replaced Nigeria's service chiefs in a sweeping shake-up of the military leadership aimed at bolstering security as the country confronts multiple armed threats
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, public affairs, and governance in Nigeria and Africa.
FCT, Abuja - A covert intelligence operation coordinated by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Army Headquarters helped thwart a deadly plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government and assassinate key political figures.
Premium Times reported on Thursday afternoon, January 29, 2026, that multiple senior administration insiders said the plot began to unravel in late September 2025 after an unnamed military officer with direct knowledge of the coup contacted the then Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede.
Source: Twitter
How plot against Tinubu was uncovered
The officer reportedly disclosed the scheme, saying he feared being implicated as an accessory to treason if he failed to alert authorities.
Sources stated that around the same time, the DSS independently gathered intelligence indicating that some serving army officers were plotting to “destabilise the government and undermine Nigeria’s democracy.”
An official familiar with the matter said the director-general (DG) of the DSS, Adeola Ajayi, personally briefed Oluyede on the findings.
Faced with converging intelligence from multiple sources, the two security chiefs agreed to act swiftly.
A wide-ranging but discreet joint operation was launched by the army and the DSS, with coordinated arrests planned across different parts of the country to neutralise the coup’s masterminds and other collaborators.
Foiled coup against Tinubu exposed
On September 30, 2025, as President Tinubu travelled to Imo State for an official visit, unaware of the plot to depose and possibly assassinate him, the joint operation went into effect. The sweep led to the arrest of the alleged principal architects of the coup, alongside other military and civilian suspects.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Emmanuel Undiandeye, and the then Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, were subsequently briefed. Undiandeye was then requested to detain the suspects in the underground holding facility of the Defence Intelligence Agency.
Source: Twitter
Following the initial arrests, President Tinubu was formally informed of the foiled plot. A visibly shaken president immediately ordered the cancellation of the October 1, 2025, National Independence Day parade. He also approved the constitution of a special investigative panel, which later led to additional arrests. The investigative panel was led by General Undiandeye.
One of the detained soldiers later escaped custody but was rearrested by DSS operatives in Bauchi State, a military insider said.
Meanwhile, a retired officer identified as General Adamu, accused of bankrolling the coup plotters, remained at large.
Which coups have happened in Nigeria?
Nigeria has experienced at least nine coups and attempted coups between 1966 and 1995. The last major scare came in 1997, when then head of state Sani Abacha accused his deputy, Oladipo Diya, and other senior officers of plotting to overthrow him.
A military tribunal sentenced them to death; Abacha’s death in 1998 halted the executions, and the accused were later freed.
Since 1999, the country has recorded 26 consecutive years of civilian rule.
Ex-APC aspirant predicts coup defeat
Legit.ng earlier reported that Adamu Garba, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), asserted that no coup campaign or plot 'will survive' in Nigeria.
Garba stated that in the event a coup is planned, "international actors will come in, dismantle the plotters and restore democracy."
Source: Legit.ng
