Fresh intelligence from an interim investigation has revealed how a serving Army Colonel allegedly built a covert, cross-service network to destabilise President Bola Tinubu’s administration before security agencies foiled the plot.
Fresh intelligence details have surfaced on the foiled coup attempt against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, shedding light on how a serving Army Colonel allegedly assembled a covert, cross-service network to undermine the constitutional order before security agencies moved in. Vanguard recalls that the Defence Headquarters announced the arrest of 16 officers for acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations, following weeks of quiet tension within the Armed Forces. In October 2025, rumours of an alleged coup plot against President Tinubu’s administration spread across social media, but the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) dismissed the claims as “false and misleading,” even as the sudden cancellation of the Independence Day parade fuelled speculation.
However, fresh findings from an interim investigation report sighted by Punch Newspapers suggest that the alleged architect of the plot was a Colonel whose repeated failures in promotion examinations reportedly bred resentment and alienation. Rather than nursing his grievances quietly, he is said to have turned them into a recruitment tool, drawing officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force into a loose but coordinated network. According to the report, members of the group were allegedly tasked with discreetly studying sensitive installations, including the Presidential Villa, the Armed Forces Complex, Niger Barracks in Abuja, and international airports in Abuja and Lagos, mapping access routes, routines and vulnerabilities as plans moved into an early operational phase.
Security sources said searches on the officer’s vehicle uncovered charms and anti-government materials, while a raid on his residence in Lokogoma, Apo, yielded sensitive documents detailing assigned roles and outlining how key national dignitaries were to be handled once the operation commenced. Investigators further alleged that the plotters exploited insider access by infiltrating the Presidential Villa and compromising workers linked to construction firm Julius Berger to obtain security information, while encrypted platforms were used for coordination and funding. Financial inducements of between N2 million and N5 million were reportedly traced to some principal actors, with intelligence agencies analysing the money trail through the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.