Nigeria, 2025 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 23 October 2025, within the window of an alleged October 2025 coup plot against President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria. The Defence Headquarters announced on 4 October 2025 the arrest of 16 senior officers, ranging from captain to brigadier-general, officially attributing it to indiscipline and breach of service regulations linked to frustration over failed promotions. Through October, however, security sources and Nigerian media reported that the officers had in fact been detained over a plot to overthrow, and possibly assassinate, Tinubu, and that the arrests were tied to the abrupt cancellation of the 1 October Independence Day parade.
On 18 October the military issued a fresh statement insisting the case was purely disciplinary. Reporting linked the alleged plot to a joint DSS and army intelligence operation around 30 September, named a brigadier-general and a returning officer among the suspects, and pointed to a former southern governor investigated over alleged financing. The government initially denied any coup, but in January 2026 acknowledged that several officers would be tried for plotting to overthrow the government.
The 23 October 2025 coding falls within this October 2025 window as the affair unfolded.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
47510232025
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Tinubu's government detained officers; initially denied a coup, later acknowledged a plot.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
The Daily Trust
Al Jazeera English
The Guardian
Premium Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →