Nigeria’s minister of defence, Christopher Musa, claims the alleged coup plotters intended to shoot him if he refused to be arrested.
Musa stated in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday that he was a primary “target” of the military commanders who staged the failed coup.
The minister, who was chief of defence staff at the time the alleged conspiracy was devised, said that the masterminds of the attempted coup were aware of the repercussions of their conduct.
Musa called the putschists “unserious individuals” and said he had no idea what they were thinking.
“I was also a target. I am sure you know. I was supposed to be arrested and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” he said.
“Anybody who goes into a coup… because you succeed, good, you don’t succeed, whatever the consequences come, you are ready for it.
“But again, these guys were just a bunch of very unserious individuals. If you look at the calibre of persons (the coup plotters), I don’t know what got into their heads that they could take on the Armed Forces like that. Even Nigerians would have fought them.”
The federal government had stated in October 2025 that the parade originally intended to commemorate the country’s 65th anniversary of independence would be cancelled.
Days later, allegations emerged tying the cancellation of the independence anniversary celebrations to an alleged coup attempt.
However, the defence headquarters (DHQ) denied the reports, claiming that the cancellation had nothing to do with the claimed coup attempt.
The DHQ further stressed that the arrest of the 16 officers described in the report had nothing to do with the suspected coup.
According to TheCable, 16 military officers were detained in the first week of October 2025 in connection with an alleged coup attempt, while two other officers were on the run.
On January 26, the DHQ officially revealed that there was an attempt to depose President Bola Tinubu.
The plot, which the military claims was discovered in late September 2025 through joint intelligence from the army, Department of State Services (DSS), and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), allegedly included plans to assassinate Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and other top government officials, as well as arrest senior military leaders.
