EXCLUSIVE: Coup suspect called President Tinubu ‘scared’ after Independence Day parade was cancelled

A Nigerian Navy lieutenant commander standing trial over an alleged coup plot admitted sending a message describing President Bola Tinubu as “scared” after the cancellation of the 1 October Independence Day parade. The admission was in a statement written by the 38-year-old officer from Kogi State, Bayawo Abdullahi, where he acknowledged sending a WhatsApp message to the coup leader, Mohammed Ma’aji, a Nigerian Army colonel, shortly after the annual parade was called off. PREMIUM TIMES reported that the coup plot was uncovered in September 2025, leading to the initial arrest of 16 military officers. In total, about 40 people, including senior officers across the armed forces, a police officer, and civilians allegedly involved in the plot, had been arrested and were being prosecuted. This newspaper reported that six civilians and former military officers accused of being part of the coup plot are being charged in a civil court, while the serving military officers are facing General Court-Martial (GCM). Following the thwarted plot, authorities cancelled the Independence Day parade and reshuffled the military top hierarchy. While media reports linked the cancellation of the parade to the alleged plot, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) explained that it was called off to allow the president to “attend a strategic bilateral meeting outside the country.” However, the cancellation of the parade coincided with the exact day Mr Ma’aji, the leader of the plot, was arrested. ‘The man has cancelled the parade; the bagger is scared’ “There was a time I sent a message to Col. Ma’aji after the 1 October parade was cancelled,” Mr Abdullahi stated, recalling his message: “The man has cancelled the parade; the bagger is scared.” It was not clear whether Mr Abdullahi knew that Mr Ma’aji had been arrested before sending him the WhatsApp message. The suspect explained that the remark was based on what he described as the president’s history of not attending the Independence Day parade, and he insisted that the message reflected his personal opinion at the time. “I just said this phrase because of the history of the president not attending the parade,” he stated. Admission of wrongdoing However, he admitted that the message amounted to misconduct and accepted responsibility for its implications. “I accept that my actions have threatened the national security of Nigeria and are also disloyal to the president,” the statement added. When asked if he made those remarks because he knew that Independence Day was one of the proposed execution dates, the officer said he did not know of that. “I just said this out of ignorance, and I can state categorically that I was not aware that the October 1 parade was to be the execution date,” he stated. “Col Maaji did not inform me. That probably would have been discussed during their subsequent meetings, which I did not attend.” His grievances Like Mr Ma’aji, who had lost his promotional bid twice, Mr Abdullahi said his grievances were similar. According to him, he has had an issue with promotion since 2018. “I was not promoted alongside my coursemates,” he stated. “When it was time for our promotion, a case arose in Apapa, and some of us were released, while those who were supposed to be promoted that year missed out because we received letters of displeasure.” He continued: “After I was denied promotion, I was still posted to Maiduguri. Then again, at Jaji, we were withdrawn from the Senior Course because we were accused of examination.” A plan in disarray Mr Abdullahi said he doubted Mr Ma’aji’s capacity to stage a coup because he lacked logistics. He said he eventually tagged him a joker and was not responding to his frequent messages again. He said his only regret was that he did not report the plan, and that he did not know who to report to. “I was not really into his plans and what and how he intends to do that,” he said. Recommendations The officer recommended several measures to prevent similar incidents within the armed forces in the future. He said there was a need for the grievances of military personnel to be effectively communicated to the federal government, particularly concerns over punishments imposed for offences that were not intentional. READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Inside suspected coup plotters’ secret transition note, attack plan on Villa, military bases, airports He also raised concerns about the high cost of education, noting that tuition fees in many military welfare schools had become comparable to those charged by private schools. In addition, he urged the government to address the widespread economic hardship and hunger affecting the country. Mr Abdullahi further recommended that officers be provided with affordable pathways to permanent home ownership and called for an overall improvement in the welfare and living conditions of members of the armed forces.