NIGERIA’s military government ordered the “immediate release” on Thursday of 33 officers and civilians convicted of plotting coups against the previous regime, including 18 jailed with president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo. The country’s top military body, the Provisional Ruling Council, met in to the early hours of Thursday to agree to the pardon and release of those convicted of taking part in coup plots in 1995 and 1997. “The release will be carried out during the day,” a spokesperson for the interior ministry said. “It will be carried out with immediate effect.”