Earlier, SaharaReporters exclusively reported the arrest of a policeman alongside military officers accused of planning to overthrow the President.
A Nollywood filmmaker and actor, Stanley Amandi, has been named among those arrested and detained by the military authorities for allegedly plotting a coup to terminate Nigeria’s democracy.
Amandi, a director and former chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), was arrested in September 2025, according to a report by PREMIUM TIMES.
The actor was said to have been hired to play the role of a propagandist by the alleged coupists who planned to assassinate President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, among others.
Amandi has featured in many Nollywood movies and is known for his work as an actor, production manager, and director. His notable works include “The Album,” where he served as director; “Tiger King,” where he also served as director and producer in 2008; “Cornerstone,” produced in 2019; and “Once Upon a Dream,” in which he appeared as an actor in 2024.
His last Instagram post was on September 19, 2025, shortly before his arrest.
Earlier, SaharaReporters exclusively reported the arrest of a policeman alongside military officers accused of planning to overthrow the President.
The police officer, identified as Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, is from Taraba State.
SaharaReporters learnt that Ibrahim was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency and is currently in the agency’s custody.
Among the 35 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.
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.
The military agency, 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.
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.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters reported on January 23, 2026, that at least five of the detained officers had fallen ill while in custody, with two reportedly collapsing due to worsening conditions.
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.
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 initial 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.