Coup Plotters Targeted Me for Assassination — Defence Minister, Gen Musa

The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (Rtd), has revealed that he was among those marked for assassination by officers involved in an alleged coup plot.
General Musa made the disclosure on Sunday night while speaking on Channels Television’s One-on-One programme, stating that the plot to overthrow the government was already underway before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office.

According to the Defence Minister, the coup plotters planned to kill him immediately after his arrest if they succeeded.
He described the suspects as disgruntled and unserious elements who were fully aware of the consequences of their actions and should now face them following their arrest and detention.
The alleged plotters were arrested in October last year, before General Musa—then Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)—was retired from active military service and subsequently reappointed as Minister of Defence by President Tinubu.
“I was also a target, I am sure you know,” Musa, the immediate past CDS, said during the programme.
“I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” the Kaduna-born officer disclosed.
In October, the military announced the arrest of 16 officers over acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations.
Musa explained that most of the alleged coup plotters were junior officers of low ranks who lacked access to strategic military weapon depots, noting that a coup could not succeed under such circumstances.
He stressed that staging a successful coup in present-day Nigeria is extremely difficult, unlike in earlier years when such actions were more feasible.
Providing insight into the motivation behind the plot, Musa said the dissident officers were those who failed promotion examinations and became aggrieved, adding that promotion in the military is highly competitive and requires passing mandatory assessments.
However, authorities last week stated that investigations had identified several officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government—actions described as inconsistent with the ethics, values, and professional standards expected of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN).
“Accordingly, those with cases to answer will be formally arraigned before an appropriate military judicial panel to face trial in accordance with the Armed Forces Act and other applicable service regulations,” said the Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, in a statement.