Nigeria said on Thursday that a number of military officers had been arrested following reports of a coup plot against the president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The president’s spokeswoman, Remi Oyo, said ”serious breaches of security”, had prompted an investigation which led to the arrests.
Ms Oyo would not give the number of officers and civilians arrested but told the BBC there was ”no danger” and stressed: ”This president is firmly in charge.”
She said Hamza al-Mustapha, the chief of security under the former president General Sani Abacha, was suspected of being involved in the plot.
Mustapha, who was in prison in Lagos, was transferred to the capital, Abuja, by police this week after an outbreak of late-night gunfire in Lagos, according to officials.
Army officers speaking to the Associated Press said dozens of mid-ranking army officers have been detained and are being interrogated in connection with the alleged plot. The detained officers were described as Muslim and Hausa-speaking commanders.
Obasanjo has ordered soldiers to return to barracks as a result of the week-long national security threat.
An army spokesperson, Colonel Chukwuemeka Onwuamaegbu, said cancelling holidays and restricting soldiers to official duties was a precautionary move, and declined to speculate on how long soldiers would be under orders to return to barracks.
Obasanjo’s election in 1999 ended 15 years of military rule in Africa’s most populous country.
A Christian from the south of the country, he has faced stiff opposition from northern Muslims who dominate Nigeria’s military.
More than 10 000 people have been killed in outbreaks of ethnic, religious and political violence since Obasanjo, a former military ruler, was elected. He was re-elected last year in a poll opponents said was rigged. Nigerians have reported a sense of unease in the country because Obasanjo has not been able to stop ethnic clashes in various parts of the country or the vicious infighting within his own party.
Despite the high prices being paid for Nigeria’s oil exports, daily life is still difficult for Nigerians, who have been complaining about delays in receiving their pay. Newspapers said on Thursday that the internal security investigation agency, the state security service, had asked opposition parties to cancel a mass protest scheduled for April 19.
The demonstrations had been planned to protest against the ruling party’s victories in general elections last April and nationwide municipal government elections last month which the opposition has dismissed as rigged.
Nigeria’s military has staged six coups and a number of failed attempts since the country gained independence from Britain in 1960. – Guardian Unlimited Â