Violence in Nigeria
Six men pleaded not guilty to treason and terrorism charges over a botched coup plot, Nigerian media reported Wednesday, as the first prosecutions for the alleged 2025 putsch attempt get underway.
The government had initially denied the existence of the alleged coup attempt before announcing in January that it had foiled a plan to overthrow the government.
If successful, it would have brought an end to a quarter-century of democracy in Africa’s most populous country.
On Tuesday, the government announced six civilians charged in the plot at the Federal High Court in Abuja, including a retired major general.
The military is also set to try several officers, in proceedings that have not yet commenced.
Local media reported Wednesday that the six civilians, in their first court appearance, pleaded not guilty.
The trial will continue on April 27.
AFP was among the dozen or so journalists — including those from Nigerian media and reporters for BBC, Deutsche Welle and Reuters — whose access to the court was restricted by security.
The media are frequently barred from the Federal High Court by its security staff on arbitrary grounds.
Lawyers for both the prosecution and defense declined to speak to the media gathered outside the courthouse.
“I keep calling him, his number is switched off,” a weeping wife of one of the accused, who gave her name as Tina Umoru, said of her husband, who, along with the others, has been remanded in custody.
“My children are shouting, where are you, daddy?”
The charges named retired major general Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, retired captain Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
They are accused of conspiring “with one another to levy war against the State to overawe the President of the Federal Republic”, according to the charging documents, seen by AFP.
The six were also accused of knowing that Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others intended to commit treason and did not alert authorities.
Ma’aji has been named in previous Nigerian press reports as the “mastermind” of the coup.
The defendants are additionally accused of conspiring “with one another to commit an act of terrorism” and of “indirectly” but “knowingly” rendering “support” to Ma’aji “and others to commit an act of terrorism.
Also named in the documents as allegedly acting alongside the accused was “Timpre Sylva (still at large)” — which appeared to be a misspelling of former oil minister Timipre Sylva, who has previously denied alleged connections to the coup plot.
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