NIGERIA-POLITICS: Yet Another Alleged Coup Plot

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Kingsley Vieira

LOME, Togo, Dec 22 1997 (IPS) - The arrest of Oladipo Diya, second-in- command in Nigeria’s military government, and 11 others for allegedly planning a coup has confirmed earlier suspicions of cracks in the four-year-old regime.

Diya, an army lieutenant-general, was arrested Sunday along with 10 other army officers, including two major-generals who until Nov 17 had served as key ministers in the government of Gen. Sani Abacha.

The shock waves that the arrests have provoked could be felt Monday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and elsewhere in the country, sources told IPS from the West African nation. There was also anxiety as to the future of a democratisation process scheduled to lead to the handing over of power to a civilian government in October next.

An official statement announcing the arrests was read on the government-owned television network. It accused the 11 — who included a civilian who served as Diya’s political adviser — of attempting to violently unseat the government.

The statement said the Abacha regime “would strongly resist any attempt to undermine the security and integrity of the nation and thereby derail the on-going transition to a democratically- elected government.

“The Federal Military government finally reassures Nigerians that the transition … is very much on course and will be pursued to a logical conclusion.”

However, sources who spoke to IPS by phone from Nigeria expressed disbelief at the alleged coup plot. Their scepticism, they said, stemmed from an incident just a week before the arrest.

On Dec. 13, there had been a blast at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as Diya’s convoy got set to go onto the tarmac. A shocked Diya, who had been on his way to the central Nigerian state of Benue for an engagement, was quoted as saying by a Lagos newspaper: “My belief in God saved me. I am a dedicated and loyal officer and only God can determine life and death”.

Nigerian police described the incident, the 16th such explosion since May 1995, as an accident!

Coming so soon after the airport incident, in which one security operative died, the alleged coup plot story has raised doubts in many minds. “It is strange and unbelievable that a man who escaped death last week (Diya) will be planning a coup this week,” commented Kodjo Ameyo, a journalist here.

This is the second time since Abacha came to power on Nov. 17, 1993 that the government has reported a coup. Thirty-nine persons were sentenced to prison terms in connection with the first, in 1995, including former head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo. One of the detainees, Obasanjo’s former deputy, Musa Yar’Adua, died on Dec 4 in prison, where he was serving a 25-year sentence.

The latest alleged coup marks the first time in Nigeria’s history that an officer of Diya’s stature has been accused of plotting to overthrow his boss. Diya, 53, was Chief of General Staff and Deputy President of Nigeria’s Provisional Ruling Council.

The other detainees include Maj.-Gen. Abdulkarim Adisa, who until a month ago was Works and Housing Minister and an open canvasser for Abacha to become civilian president come October 1998. Shunning growing criticism, especially from his home base in the southwest, Adisa had used every available opportunity to praise Abacha’s leadership qualities.

The other Major-General, Tajudeen Olanrewaju, was Communications Minister and, along with his assistant, Col. Olu Akiyode, he had sought to bring sanity to an ailing telecommunications sector. Akiyode has also been arrested.

Only two of the officers held could be said to have any troops at their command by virtue of their positions in the artillery corps. Save for Col Daniel Akintonde of the intelligence corps, the rest held mainly administrative positions.

What most have in common is their reported closeness to the Chief of General Staff and the fact that all but two come from the Southwest, home to the Yoruba ethnic group to which other prominent Nigerians jailed since the military annulled a Jun. 12, 1993 presidential election also belong.

These include Obasanjo and Moshood Abiola, presumed winner of the 1993 election — accused of treason in 1994 and kept in prison without trial.

“Could this be an attempt to remove Yorubas from the top hierachy of the armed forces?” a former politician told IPS by telephone from Lagos. “We are already seeing marginalisation of the Yorubas in other spheres. The Southwest is generally neglected in the scheme of things.”

But several other scenarios are being touted among Nigeria- watchers in the Togolese capital. One is that of a personality clash between Diya and Abacha. Diya, a lawyer, had maintained a studied silence over the clamour by a section of the military and other groups for Abacha to succeed himself.

His silence may have been seen as disloyalty.

The other scenario may concern the state of Gen. Abacha’s health. An incapacitated Abacha could mean that Diya, a Yoruba, will take over the mantle of leadership. That, analysts say, may not go down well with Abacha’s lieutenants from Northern Nigeria, his home area, keen on maintaining the political domination the north has held over the past few decades.

The arrests are by no means the end of play in the alleged coup- attempt saga. Investigations are continuing, the Nigerian nation was told Sunday night.

If history is repeated, there will be trials. It is difficult to say whether death by firing squad will be prescribed if the accused are found guilty of treason.

In Nigeria, Gani Fawehinmi, lawyer and human rights activist said Sunday shortly after the announcement: “What is happening to this country … the people of Nigeria, the pro-democracy groups and the international community would like to have details of the plot.

“It is not a joking matter. This is a very serious issue. It is a bad omen. It is terrible. The country is in national crisis,” Fawehinmi said.