Fresh details have emerged regarding the ongoing investigation into the foiled October 1 coup plot in Nigeria, with 16 military officers now confirmed to be in detention.
According to security sources, 14 of the suspects are from the Nigerian Army, including a Brigadier-General, a Colonel, four Lieutenant Colonels, five Majors, two Captains, and one Lieutenant. The remaining two officers are a Navy Lieutenant Commander and an Air Force Squadron Leader. Most of the Army suspects reportedly belong to the Infantry Corps, with several identified as graduates of the 56th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (2004–2008).
Fifteen of the detained officers are said to hail from the North-Central, North-East, and North-West regions, with one from the South-West. The suspects allegedly plotted to assassinate President Bola Tinubu and other senior government officials, though the Defence Headquarters has repeatedly dismissed reports of a coup attempt as false, describing recent military leadership changes as routine.
Following the incident, President Tinubu replaced the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, with General Olufemi Oluyede and carried out other top-level military appointments.
Meanwhile, the alleged plot has sparked a wave of misinformation, including claims that the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, had been arrested. Ogbuku, in a statement issued on Wednesday, dismissed the reports as “fabricated lies,” clarifying that he was in Port Harcourt attending a televised Commission meeting alongside Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Directors.
“All Nigerians saw me on live television during the NDDC meeting in Port Harcourt,” Ogbuku said, urging the public to disregard the rumours.
Similarly, All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Yekini Nabena denounced the reports as fake news, noting that Ogbuku had also appeared live at an agricultural summit broadcast earlier that day.
The wave of speculation followed reports that security operatives raided the Abuja home of former Bayelsa State governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in connection with the coup probe. Sylva, currently abroad, has denied any involvement in the alleged plot.
Both the military and the Nigerian government have maintained that there was no coup attempt, describing the circulating stories as baseless and aimed at causing public panic.
