Crime
Military Law: 16 Soldiers Face Death Penalty For Plotting Coup Against Tinubu
Military Law: 16 Soldiers Face Death Penalty For Plotting Coup Against Tinubu
Military Law: 16 Soldiers Face Death Penalty for Plotting Coup against Tinubu. No fewer than 16 serving officers of the Nigerian Armed Forces are set to face court-martial over allegations of plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, a charge that carries penalties ranging from life imprisonment to death under military law.
The development follows the conclusion of a high-level military investigation into the alleged plot, which reportedly began with arrests carried out in October 2025. The suspects, spanning ranks from captain to brigadier-general, were detained by the Defence Intelligence Agency and have remained in custody since then.
Military authorities confirmed this week that the investigative panel set up to examine the allegations has completed its work and submitted its findings to the appropriate authorities. The confirmation was given by Samaila Uba, a Major-General and Director of Defence Information.
In a statement, Uba said officers found to have cases to answer would be formally arraigned before a military judicial panel in line with the Armed Forces Act and other service regulations. He explained that the investigation followed established military procedures and examined all circumstances surrounding the conduct of the affected personnel.
According to the statement, the probe identified several officers whose actions were deemed inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards required of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The military, he said, decided to make the outcome public in the interest of accountability, while still upholding fairness and due process.
Retired senior officers, speaking separately, said the gravity of the offence leaves little room for leniency under existing military law. They noted that attempted coups are classified as capital offences, with punishment prescribed as death unless mitigated by presidential clemency.
Speaking on the Development, Two Retired Officers, Gen. Bashir Adewinbi (Rtd) and Major Bashir Galma (Rtd), explained that the punishment for attempted coup is death in line with the Armed Forces Act of Nigeria. The duo said that, except the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Tinubu, temper justice with mercy, there is no way the indicted officers can come out freely from the offence.
Gen. Adewinbi said, “The coup is a criminal offence in the military, and there are penalties for it. The military high command might have denied it for the first time for them to ascertain and conclude their investigations. “Is it real? Is it not real? Who are the people involved? Who are the actors? Now that they have concluded and submitted their report and the report has indicated that there was a coup attempt, that means, if there was a coup, everybody must be ready to face consequences for his or her actions.”
“There is no two ways about it. A coup in the military attracts the death penalty.”
“When you’re caught for a coup, the consequence is the death penalty. We have witnessed it so many times in Nigeria.
“However, the President can use his prerogative to take action on the type of punishment to give them, but the normal thing is death penalty to serve as a deterrence to others who are planning to truncate the democracy we are enjoying in Nigeria, because there is no need for any coup in Nigeria today.
“It is the duty of the military to protect the present democracy. We should not truncate democracy. Whoever has planned the coup should be made to pay for it. Not only the coup, but also all of these offenders like terrorists, bandits and other criminals.”
Military Law
“There must be a special court to try these people. That is the only way we can reduce terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria. Let’s take the bull by the horns. Let’s give them the right punishment because they see it as a way of making money.”
Major Galma said it is important for anybody joining the military to understand that he or she would be abiding by two laws, military laws and Nigeria’s constitution.
Nigeria has a long history of coup allegations and trials. Past military regimes imposed death sentences on officers accused of plotting against the government, including the execution of Major-General Mamman Vatsa and others in 1986.
During the 1990s, several senior officers and civilians were also jailed over alleged coup plots under the late General Sani Abacha.
EFCC Grills Raheem Abiodun Wasiu for Alleged $12,000 Fraud in Enugu
Operatives of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have commenced investigations into the activities of one Raheem Abiodun Wasiu, an alleged serial fraudster, for an alleged case of fraud to the tune of $12,000 (Twelve Thousand United States Dollars).
Eereporter.com
Wasiu, 38, was arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, following a complaint by one Ezekulie Stanley Chukwuamuanya, a Bureau De Change operator who claimed that he was defrauded the sum of $5000 (Five Thousand United States Dollars) by the suspect.
In the course of investigation by operatives of the EFCC, it was discovered that the suspect rents different Toyota Hilux trucks, disguises as a wealthy contractor, moves with escorts and meets BDC operators in the south-east and allegedly tricks them into parting with their had earned money, by presenting fake alerts in Naira to them, after collecting their money.
According to Chukwumuanya, “I gave him the dollar and he counted it by himself. After confirmation, he then asked for my bank details. After giving him my account number, he mentioned my name that popped up on his bank application, I confirmed it. The next thing he told me was that it had gone through, which I waited for the alert to come, to no avail. Because of time, he asked me to go and that I will get it, that it could be network issues and I left because of his personality”. He alleged that soon after that, the suspect became incommunicado.
Another petitioner, based in Owerri, Imo State, one Chief Nwaoha Ubaferem equally alleged that Wasiu defrauded him of the sum of $7,000. He said, “the dollar on me was $2,600, then I called my office to bring additional $4,400 to me to complete it as he requested for $7,000. As we were waiting, he complained that he was running late and we decided to move to Royce Road from Port Harcourt Road where he finally collected the money from me, resumed transfer, called my name and informed me that the transfer had gone which I believed but continued to expect alert from him”.
EFCC
Further investigations revealed that the suspect has toured the South-east, and Akwa Ibom State, using the same pattern to allegedly defraud BDC operators.
Items recovered from the suspect include: A Hilux truck (Akwa Ibom KTR 379 AA), various bank ATM cards, different bank transfer tokens, digital National Identification Number slip with the name Sunday Abiodun, two complimentary cards with the name Engineer Abiodun, a designer bag (Emporio Amani), One iPhone 17 Promax, One Samsung phone, 4G internet pocket WIFI, One Patek Philip wrist watch, vehicle particulars, One gold bangle and a pair of shoes (Alexandra MC Queen).
The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
Eereporter.com
EFCC Boss Orders Withdrawal of Charges Against Maryam Shehu, Abubakar Shuraim Abdulhamad
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has compassionately ordered the withdrawal of charges preferred against Maryam Isah Shehu and Abubakar Shuraim Abdulhamad, who were, on Thursday August 20, 2026 arraigned before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for alleged cybercrime and peddling malicious information against the Commission.
Eereporter.com
While the Commission considered the arraignment of the two defendants for cyber stalking to be contrary to Section 24(2) (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended) 2024 and punishable under Section 24 (2) (c) (ii) of the same Act, the Executive Chairman, nonetheless, considered the passionate pleas and apologies of Shehu’s father and appeals of well-meaning Nigerians for leniency.
To this end, he has directed that charges filed against the two young Nigerians be dropped and warned that the EFCC would no longer tolerate any wilful attack on its image in any form, medium or platform.
Ola Olukoyede
The EFCC’s boss assured Nigerians that the Commission would continue to function in line with its assigned mandate and in the best interests of the nation.
Eereporter.com
Crime
President Tinubu Orders Immediate Arrest, Sacks Three Perm Secs as ICPC Uncovers New Fake Agency
President Tinubu Orders Immediate Arrest, Sacks Three Perm Secs as ICPC Uncovers New Fake Agency
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of one George Buchi Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries over the discovery of another fake agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Eereporter.com
They include M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN disclosed this to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days, following an earlier meeting on Thursday.
Aliyu said the newly uncovered fake office, operating under the name “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” had been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the OSGF, contrary to extant laws and without presidential authorisation.
He said, “Upon further briefing by ICPC to Mr President on the ongoing investigations into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and procedural weaknesses in the public service, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered another fake agency and office operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, which has been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Aliyu said.
He said the discovery emerged in the course of the commission’s broader investigation, as earlier directed by President Tinubu, and identified the promoter of the fake office as one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who was found to be operating under multiple aliases.
“The fake agency office, National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, was promoted by one George Buchi Nwabueze, with active suspected collaborators in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, contrary to extant laws and without authorisation of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He revealed that the ICPC had engaged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to ascertain vital information relating to the fake office under investigation, and had comprehensively briefed the President on the new developments.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
Aliyu said following the discovery, “Mr President has directed as follows: the immediate arrest of Prince George Buchi Nwabueze; the immediate suspension of the following permanent secretaries; M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah,” he said.
Friday’s development is the latest in a scandal that began with the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is currently facing prosecution on charges of forgery and impersonation.
Tinubu
The ICPC’s interim report, submitted to the President on August 6 after a 30-day investigation, had earlier disclosed the existence of two other fictitious bodies, the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office is the fourth fake agency uncovered after the PFIFC scandal since early April.
Eereporter.com
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