MINISTER of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), has revealed that he was among the high-profile targets of a foiled coup plot against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, disclosing that the plotters planned to arrest him and shoot him dead if he resisted.
General Musa made the revelation during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria, just days after the military confirmed that some of the 16 officers arrested in October 2025 would be tried for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Federal Government.
The Defence Minister, who is also the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), said the coup plotters had identified several senior officials for elimination, including himself.
“I was also a target, I am sure you know,” Musa said during the interview. “I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot.”
In October 2025, the military initially announced the arrest of 16 officers, describing the allegations against them as acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations. At the time, the Defence Headquarters denied reports linking the arrests to a coup plot, insisting the investigation was an internal disciplinary matter.
However, the military last week reversed its earlier position.
In a statement issued by the Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, the Armed Forces confirmed that investigations had uncovered evidence suggesting that some of the detained officers were involved in an attempt to topple the Tinubu-led government.
“The findings identified a number of officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government, which is inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards required of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” Uba said.
He added that officers found to have cases to answer would be formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panels in line with the Armed Forces Act and other applicable service regulations.
According to security sources, several top government officials and prominent national figures were allegedly pencilled down for arrest or elimination as part of the coup plan.
The attempted coup has also been linked in reports to the cancellation of the 65th Independence Anniversary parade, an unusual decision that raised public speculation at the time.
Former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, was also drawn into the controversy after operatives raided his Abuja residence in connection with the alleged plot. Sylva has denied any involvement.
Speaking further, General Musa dismissed the coup plotters as reckless and unrealistic in their ambitions.
“I think these guys were a bunch of unserious individuals,” he said.
“If you look at the calibre of persons involved, I don’t know what got into their heads to think they could take on the Armed Forces like that.”
The Defence Minister stressed that Nigerians themselves would have resisted any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government.
“Even Nigerians would have fought them,” Musa said. “Nigerians have fought against military rule for quite some time. Mr President himself was part of that struggle.
“For anyone to wake up one morning and think they can attempt that in Nigeria, they need to reset their brains.”
Nigeria has a long history of military coups, particularly between 1966 and 1993, a period marked by repeated interventions by the armed forces in governance.
The country returned to democratic rule in 1999 and has since maintained uninterrupted civilian administration.