Also in custody are 10 non-commissioned officers (NCOs), including a Warrant Officer, five Sergeants, one Corporal, and two Lance Corporals.
Wives of Nigerian officers detained over an alleged coup plot against the Bola Tinubu-led government have accused military authorities of a witch-hunt.
Speaking exclusively to SaharaReporters, they claimed their husbands are innocent and were not planning to oust the administration of President Tinubu as alleged by the Nigerian government.
“Honestly, most of them are highly professional and dedicated officers, sentiments aside. They want to do what they said (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo did to the North to cripple us,” one of the wives told SaharaReporters.
Upon assumption of office in 1999, Obasanjo retired at least 93 military officers.
On Tuesday, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that 35 military personnel, including 33 northerners and one operative of a paramilitary organisation, were being detained over the alleged coup plot
Among the detained officers are a Brigadier General, two Colonels, five Lieutenant Colonels, one Wing Commander (Air Force equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel), eight Majors, one Lieutenant Commander (Navy equivalent of a Major), two Squadron Leaders (Air Force equivalent of a Major), five Captains, and one Lieutenant.
Also in custody are 10 non-commissioned officers (NCOs), including a Warrant Officer, five Sergeants, one Corporal, and two Lance Corporals.
One of the detained Army Captains, A. Yusuf, hails from Osun State, while Squadron Leader Zuzu, a senior Air Force officer, is from Bayelsa State. The remaining 33 officers are all from the northern part of the country, including three from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
Two of the officers, a Brigadier General and Lieutenant Colonel are from Nasarawa State, while six including three non-commissioned officers are from Niger State. Three are from Katsina State including a Colonel who was undergoing a course in a North African country.
Three of the detained officers, all Lieutenant Colonels, are from Kaduna, Plateau, and Kano states. Two Majors hail from Gombe State, while another is from Bauchi.
Others come from Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Taraba, Yobe, Kogi, Sokoto, and Adamawa states.
A spouse of one of the detainees alleged that her husband and others were indicted merely for having financial transactions with some already exposed officers
“All the officers were either arrested or invited from their various places of duties. Not gathered or seen in the same place. More so, if others knew of any prior plot, they would have fled the country the moment the news of arrest of some persons were known to them. But they didn't; in fact, some of them came by themselves when invited,” she said.
“Again, others including my husband were indicted for merely having financial transactions with some of the already arrested officers.
“We condemn all Northern elders over their continuous silence as they are just a bunch of cowards ‘Wallahi’ (Astaghfirullah). And we pray that Allah vindicates whoever is innocent, and may He have mercy on those who are truly guilty.”
She added, “We know the whole plan is to reduce Northern influence in the military like Obasanjo did. Do you remember what he did? Following his inauguration in 1999, Obasanjo took steps to remove military officers who had previously held political positions, a group largely dominated by Northern elites.
“Also in 2001, the then Obasanjo’s administration targeted 37 officers for retirement, with 10 specifically singled out for over-ambition and plotting to change the present social order. That was done to curtail the political influence of Northern officers in the military.
“He dismissed top service chiefs, including Lieutenant-General Malu, a Northerner, after Malu publicly criticised new bilateral ties between the Nigerian military and the United States.
“Now his brother from the South West, Tinubu, is following suit, claiming coup. He should come out straight about his plan to remove many Northern officers from positions of power, so he can cripple the North.”
In October 2025, SaharaReporters exclusively reported how some military officers were arrested by the Defence Intelligence Agency in Abuja over an alleged plot to overthrow President Tinubu’s government.
The DIA, established in 1986, is Nigeria’s primary military intelligence body. It is responsible for gathering and providing intelligence to the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence to counter security threats, safeguard national integrity, and support military operations, including ongoing efforts against terrorism and insurgency.
Top military sources disclosed the names and departments of some senior military officers who had been detained over the alleged plot.
SaharaReporters also exclusively reported that a Nigerian Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander B. Abdullahi, was among the senior officers held in connection with the case.
Sources at the Defence Headquarters confirmed that the officers, drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force, were arrested in coordinated operations by military intelligence operatives following weeks of covert surveillance.
However, the Defence Headquarters initially dismissed the reports, saying the arrest of the officers mentioned in the reports was unrelated to any alleged coup plot.
Last Friday, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that at least five detained officers had fallen ill while in custody, with two reportedly collapsing as their conditions worsened.
Sources disclosed that the officers were allegedly transferred from an initial DIA detention facility to an underground military cell in Abuja described as dark and poorly ventilated.
Meanwhile, families of the detained officers have repeatedly raised concerns over what they described as inhumane treatment, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of access to lawyers and relatives.
Some spouses told SaharaReporters that they were not informed of transfers between detention facilities and had been barred from visits since the arrests.
The case has also drawn political attention following reports that military operatives raided the Maitama, Abuja residence of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, in connection with the investigation.
Sylva later confirmed the visit but denied any involvement, describing attempts to link him to the matter as politically motivated.
Despite earlier official denials of any coup plot, Monday’s statement by the DHQ now formally acknowledges that allegations of plotting to overthrow the government were among the findings against some of the detained officers.