SaharaReporters had reported how the police personnel, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, from Taraba State, was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency in October 2025.
The Nigerian police have remained silent over the arrest of one of their personnel named among those arrested and detained by the military authorities for allegedly plotting a coup to terminate Nigeria’s democracy.
SaharaReporters had reported how the police personnel, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, from Taraba State, was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency in October 2025.
Sources said Ibrahim is number 36 on the list of security operatives currently in the agency’s custody.
The police force spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, neither answered multiple calls placed to him since Tuesday nor responded to messages sent to his phone on WhatsApp asking about the police authorities' stance, though he read the message.
In October 2025, SaharaReporters exclusively reported how some military officers were arrested by the DIA in Abuja over an alleged plot to overthrow President Tinubu’s government.
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. At the time, the then Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau (retd.), stated that the matter was a purely internal disciplinary issue.
Providing an update on Monday, January 26, 2026, the new Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, formally acknowledged that allegations of plotting to overthrow the government were among the findings against some of the detained officers.
Among the military officers detained are: an Army Brigadier General, 2 Colonels, 5 Lieutenant Colonels, 1 Wing Commander (Air Force equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army), 8 Majors, 1 Lieutenant Commander (Navy equivalent of a Major in the Army), 2 Squadron Leaders (Air Force equivalent of a Major in the Army), 5 Captains, and a Lieutenant.
Also in detention are 10 non-commissioned officers (NCOs), which include a Warrant Officer, 5 Sergeants, one Corporal, and two Lance Corporals. While one of the detained Army Captains, A. Yusuf, is from Osun State, Squadron Leader Zuzu, a senior Air Force Officer, is from Bayelsa State.
The 33 others are all from the Northern part of the country, including the FCT, with 3 officers.
Two of the officers, a Brigadier General and a Lieutenant Colonel, are from Nasarawa State; 6, 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 affected officers, all Lieutenant Colonels, are from Kaduna, Plateau, and Kano States. Two Majors are both from Gombe State, while another is from Bauchi. Others are from Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Taraba, Yobe, Kogi, Sokoto, and Adamawa.