Nigerian army confined to barracks over coup plot

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered his army to return to barracks during a week long national security threat that some officers have described as a plot to depose him.

Army spokesman Colonel Chukwuemeka Onwuamaegbu said the precautionary move to cancel holidays and restrict servicemen and women to official duties began last week at the outset of an investigation of army commanders for what the president’s spokeswoman has described as ”serious security breaches.”

Onwuamaegbu declined to speculate how long officers and troops would be “under orders to return to barracks,” saying only that the measure would continue “as long as it takes to determine that security is back to normal.”

Several officers have revealed that army intelligence officials have interrogated and detained dozens of mid-ranking army officers in connection with an alleged plot by opposition-leaning Muslim Hausa-speaking commanders to topple Obasanjo – whose 1999 election ended 15 years of military rule in Africa’s most populous nation.

Onwuamaegbu confirmed that some officers had been ”interviewed” in connection but could not say how many, or whether any had been detained.

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

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