A leading civil rights group, the Leadership Center for Civil and Post-Trauma Rehabilitation, has raised the alarm over the fate of military officers arrested and detained in connection with an alleged coup plot against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The group in a statement issued on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, alleged inconsistencies in the reactions of Defence Minister, Gen Christopher Musa (Rtd), demanding an expanded investigation into the alleged coup plot.

According to the statement signed by Center Secretary, Dr Manzo Abubakar, and made available to News Express:

“The trials of the alleged plotters of the September coup attempt is expected to commence soon according to the recent statement from the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

“While it may not be a strange development for coup plotters to be made to face military trials in the complicity of respective roles in the attempt to overthrow a legitimate government, the whole scenario is laced with irony of inconsistency.

“When the rumor about the coup first filtered out, the Defence Headquarters with Gen Musa Christopher as then CDS was quick to deny of any coup, saying that some officers of the Armed Forces were picked up for what he described as professional misconduct and disgruntlement due to denial of promotion to their next ranks.

“After four months, the same Gen Musa Christopher, now a Cabinet Minister of the Federal Republic, appeared on the national television telling Nigerians that the coup he earlier denied few months back actually took place and that culprits would soon appear before a Military Court Marshall to answer for their crimes.

“As a civil society and a rights group, we feel strongly concerned by these conflicting views and even get more worried by reports from the grapevine indicating that the health condition of some of the officers in detention is in critical condition due to severe torture to which they were subjected during investigations.”

Continuing, the Centre said: “In line with the core values of this group, we hereby call on Mr President to order an expanded independent investigation that would involve Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Department of State Services (DSS) and selected Civil Society Groups to jointly carry out preliminary investigation before commencement of the trials.

“He should ensure that the trials must be beamed live on the national television in line with dictum of democratic openness.

“Presidential directive must be issued for the physical, emotional and psychological protection of the coup detainees as presumed innocent until judgment is fully determined.

“Any high-profile names mentioned at the renewed pretrial investigation anchored through the ONSA must be immediately suspended and be made to equally face the trial.

“Mr President must ensure due diligence at both investigation and trials levels by obtaining daily brief on the matter through an independent source.”

“Finally, inasmuch as we join well-meaning individuals to vehemently oppose any attempt to forcibly overthrow a democratically elected government, we equally stand firm for justice, equity and fairness for those currently being investigated in connection with the September 2025 coup matter,” the rights group concluded.

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