Nigeria’s armed forces have been thrown into a fresh wave of internal tension after the military formally confirmed that several of the 16 detained officers were implicated in an alleged coup plot; an admission that has reignited volatile regional and religious fault lines between the country’s predominantly Muslim north and largely Christian south. For months, Defence Headquarters and the presidency insisted that the officers were being investigated merely for “indiscipline” and breaches of service regulations. That narrative collapsed on Monday when Major General Samaila Uba, the military’s spokesman, confirmed that investigators had uncovered evidence linking some detainees to efforts to destabilize President Bola Tinubu’s government. Those implicated will now face a military tribunal.
A Defence HQ source who elected anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, told Huhuonline.com that the official admission of a military coup has electrified Abuja’s political and security circles because of the stark regional imbalance among those detained. According to security sources and military records, 15 of the 16 officers originate from northern states, while only one is from the south-west. Those in custody include: Brigadier Gen. Musa Abubakar Sadiq (Nasarawa), alleged by investigators to be the alleged coup leader, Col. M.A. Ma’aji (Niger), Lt. Col. S. Bappah (Bauchi), Lt. Col. A.A. Hayatu (Kaduna), Lt. Col. P. Dangnap (Plateau), Lt. Col. M Almakura (Nasarawa), Major AJ Ibrahim (Gombe), Major M.M. Jiddah (Katsina), Major M.A. Usman (FCT), Major D. Yusuf (Gombe), Major I. Dauda (Jigawa), Captain Ibrahim Bello, Captain A.A. Yusuf, Lieutenant S.S. Felix (South-West), Lieutenant Commander D.B. Abdullahi (Navy), and Squadron Leader S.B. Adamu (Air Force). All remain in military detention facilities in Abuja and Kaduna. Family members report limited access, while Defence Headquarters says due process is being followed.
A Military Already Under Strain
The revelation lands amid sweeping changes at the very top of the armed forces. In recent weeks President Tinubu removed the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, from the north-east, and appointed General Olufemi Oluyede, a Yoruba officer from the south-west. The reshuffle also installed Major General Waidi Shaibu as Army Chief, Air Vice Marshal Sunday Aneke as Air Chief and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas as Naval Chief; creating the most southern-tilted military leadership structure in years. Officially, the presidency describes the shake-up as routine rotation. Unofficially, officers and retired generals describe a force unsettled by suspicion and whisper campaigns. “The army is meant to be the last neutral institution,” said one retired general. “Once arrests and promotions start being interpreted through regional and religious lenses, cohesion suffers.”
Religious Undercurrents
The crisis is unfolding against Nigeria’s most sensitive demographic divide. Many of the detained officers come from Muslim-majority northern states, while the current civilian leadership and newly appointed service chiefs are predominantly from the Christian-majority south-west. Though the military insists religion played no role in the investigation, the perception alone has become politically combustible.
Northern politicians privately warn that selective enforcement could deepen feelings of marginalization. Southern lawmakers counter that the reshuffle merely corrects decades of northern dominance in senior military appointments.
From Denial to Confirmation
The government’s credibility problem is self-inflicted. When coup rumors surfaced on October 1st, officials categorically denied any such plot. Defence spokesmen dismissed reports as fabricated. Only now, after months of silence, has the military acknowledged that a destabilization attempt was under investigation all along. Diplomats in Abuja say the shifting narrative has unsettled international partners. Nigeria anchors regional counter-terrorism operations in West Africa. Any hint of internal fracture reverberates far beyond its borders.
What Comes Next
Military tribunals are expected to begin in the coming weeks. Their conduct will be closely scrutinized; not only for legal fairness, but for political neutrality. For President Tinubu, the episode is a dangerous test of leadership. Mishandled, it risks hardening north–south mistrust, weakening civil-military confidence and injecting fresh instability into a country already grappling with inflation, insecurity and social unrest. For the armed forces, the stakes are even higher. Nigeria’s long history of coups has taught one brutal lesson: once the perception of factionalism takes hold, restoring unity becomes far harder than preserving it. As one Aso Rock source told Huhuonline.com that: “for now, the barracks are quiet, but beneath the surface, the tension is unmistakable.”
