Nigerian army officers quizzed in 'coup' probe

Nigerian army officers have been interrogated amid rumours of a plot to overthrow President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian government.

Obasanjo spokeswoman Remi Oyo declined to say whether the alleged offences constituted a coup plot, saying there is ”no danger whatsoever. This president is firmly in charge.”

She added: “It is true that the intelligence community is investigating allegations of what appears to be serious breaches of security on the part of some officers and apparent civilian collaborators.”

Three military officers said army intelligence officials had interrogated 28 mid-ranking officers in connection with an alleged army plot to topple Obasanjo, whose 1999 election ended 15 years of military rule in Africa’s most populous nation.

The officers were questioned at military intelligence headquarters in the capital Abuja.

After the questioning, officials released the suspects – many of them northern Hausa-speaking Muslim army colonels and majors – but impounded their mobile phones, apparently to investigate call records, the men said.

Obasanjo, a southern Christian, has faced stiff opposition from northern Muslims who have long dominated Nigeria’s former-ruling military.

Soldiers have staged six military coups and numerous failed attempts since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in outbreaks of ethnic, religious and political violence since Obasanjo, himself a former military ruler, won the 1999 elections.

Obasanjo was re-elected last year in a vote condemned by opponents as rigged.

The Lagos daily Vanguard newspaper reported today the suspected coup-plotters were believed to have sought the support of soldiers disgruntled over late or unpaid salaries as well as by “general insecurity, corruption” and alleged irregularities in recent elections.

Supporters were recruited “along religious, ethnic and geopolitical lines with intent to incite men under arms against the state”, the paper said without citing sources.

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the jailed former security chief to the late dictator Gen. Sani Abacha, was suspected by some officials of leading the alleged coup plot, officials said.

On Tuesday night army officials hurriedly transferred Al-Mustapha – who is being held on murder charges – from a Lagos prison to a facility in the capital, Abuja.

Residents heard hours of gunfire during the transfer, which officials said was to prevent inmates from interfering in the move.

Al-Mustapha’s family claimed the inmate was shot in the leg during the transfer, an allegation vigorously denied by officials.