Coup plot: How N11bn was found in detained colonel’s bank accounts

A whopping N11billion is said to have been traced by military intelligence to the bank accounts of a colonel detained over the alleged coup plot involving some senior military officers.

According to the PUNCH, top-level security sources said that the discovery connected the detained officer to the alleged coup.

An officer familiar with the investigation said the colonel who served directly under a brigadier general, now also under probe, had previously been deployed in the Niger Delta region

“When interrogated, the colonel claimed that the funds belonged to a former governor, whom he described as his business partner. He insisted that the money was meant for a legitimate business transaction,” the source said.’

PUNCH learnt that the ongoing probe is part of a wider investigation that began after intelligence reports in August 2024 suggested that some serving military officers were allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.

Sources within the security network said that the Defence Intelligence Agency began tracking communications, financial movements, and foreign contacts linked to the suspects months before any arrests were made.

“The coup plotters have been under the radar since August 2024, when the service got wind of the plot. They mapped out three different times to strike, two of which were the June 12 Democracy Day and the October 1 Independence Day this year,” a source said. “They met in the UK and Turkey this year. But the DIA was patiently gathering facts and evidence before swooping on them.”

Punch also stated that during DIA’s intervention, Intelligence gathered during surveillance reportedly led to a review of presidential movements. Security sources said President Bola Tinubu’s frequent stays in Lagos and his reduced presence in Abuja were partly influenced by ongoing security assessments at the time.

“The first countermeasure taken was to divert the President’s movement in recent times,” one source noted.

“There was credible intelligence that they would execute the coup operation on October 1, and that was why the Independence Day celebration was cancelled. It was an operation that lasted for over a year, since August last year. But the service was ahead of them because they had access to their communications.”

Last Friday, President Tinubu dismissed all the service chiefs and replaced them. Sunday PUNCH gathered that the removal of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, was partly due to a public statement issued by the Defence Headquarters confirming the arrest of 16 officers.

Recall that last week, President Tinubu made some changes in he military leadership, sacking and replacing them.

The removal of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, was linked to a public statement issued by the Defence Headquarters confirming the arrest of 16 officers.

The disclosure was described as a “management error.” A credible security source said, “Information about the arrest of the 16 officers shouldn’t have been in the public domain,” a source said.

“The management of the situation was essential because they didn’t want people to have justification for the plot. The international community might begin to misinterpret the situation. The fact that the Chief of Defence Staff was careless by disclosing that they arrested 16 officers was a bad approach to management. That carelessness necessitated the change of the service chiefs.”

The source further stated that the move to dismiss all the service chiefs at once was meant to mask the disciplinary intent and prevent speculation that Musa alone was being punished.

Recall that the news of the alleged coup plot was first reported by Sahara Reporters, while the full details of the officers involved were published by another news platform, PREMIUM TIMES, a few days ago.

Some of the indicted officers were from Nasarawa, Niger, Bauchi, Kaduna, Plateau, Gombe, Katsina, Jigawa, and the Federal Capital Territory.

A security source stated that the continued silence by the authorities is to prevent political tension and ethnic suspicion within the military hierarchy.

President Tinubu last week decorated the new service chiefs at the Presidential villa in Aso Rock, in Abuja, telling them to take the fight to terrorists, bandits and other criminals disturbing the peace of the nation.