Nigeria Charges Six With Treason Over Alleged Coup Plot Against President Tinubu
Nigeria has charged six people with terrorism and treason over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the federal government announced Tuesday, April 21, in a case that has rattled the country’s political establishment.
Among those charged is a retired army major-general, alongside five other individuals who face a combined 13-count charge filed before a federal court in Abuja. Prosecutors say the accused conspired to stage a coup, potentially using violence to remove the president from power.
The case file suggests security agencies began investigating the alleged plot several weeks ago, leading to the arrests that preceded Tuesday’s formal charges. The specific details of the alleged plan — including its timeline, means, and whether any foreign actors were involved — have not been publicly disclosed.
However, the charges under Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, indicate prosecutors are treating the matter with the highest severity. Treason charges in Nigeria carry the potential penalty of death, though capital sentences have not been carried out in the country for decades.
The alleged plot is the latest in a series of security challenges facing Tinubu’s administration, which took office in May 2023 following a disputed election. Nigeria has faced persistent insecurity across multiple regions — from banditry in the northwest to kidnappings-for-ransom that have paralyzed entire communities, as well as a grinding insurgency in the northeast led by Boko Haram and its offshoots.
While no coup has succeeded in Nigeria since the return to civilian rule in 1999, the country has a history of military interventions in politics, and any suggestion of a coup plot invariably generates intense public anxiety.
The Tinubu administration has been under strain for months. Economic hardship — driven by a currency crisis, soaring inflation, and the removal of fuel subsidies — has fueled public discontent. Protests erupted in August 2024 and again in 2025, sometimes met with a heavy-handed security response.
Against this backdrop, the revelation of an alleged coup plot adds a new and serious dimension to Nigeria’s political challenges, raising questions about the cohesion of the security forces and the loyalty of senior military figures.
Legal proceedings are expected to begin shortly, and observers will be watching closely to see whether the full weight of the state is brought to bear — or whether political calculations might soften the prosecution’s approach.