Nigeria’s defence authorities have set up a special panel to investigate the conduct of military officers detained amid rumours of a plot to overthrow the elected government, a spokesperson said on Thursday.
”The panel has commenced work. Many military officers are undergoing investigation to determine their involvement in the alleged security breach,” defence spokesperson Colonel Ganiyu Adewale said.
”The essence of the SIP [special investigation panel] is to determine if the arrested officers are involved, after which those implicated will be made to face a military tribunal,” he said.
The panel was set up by Chief of Defence Staff General Alexander Ogomudia following allegations that officers and civilian accomplices have been involved in what President Olusegun Obasajo’s office has branded a ”security breach”.
Prominent among those under investigation is Major Hamza al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to late military dictator Sani Abacha, Adewale said.
Al-Mustapha, who has been standing trial since November 1999 on allegations of attempted murder, was last month whisked away from his civilian jail cell by military intelligence officers for interrogation.
His transfer ignited speculation that Nigeria — Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s biggest oil exporter — might be on the verge of its seventh military takeover since independence in 1960.
Two weeks ago, Obasanjo’s spokesperson Remi Oyo said Nigeria’s intelligence agencies were probing ”what looks like a serious breach of security on the part of some military officers and apparent civilian collaborators”.
Adewale would not say how many other officers were involved in the probe.
”It is not right to give a figure now because investigation is still going on. Some of them may be let off the hook, while many more may still be invited,” he said, using a common euphemism meaning ”detained for questioning”. — Sapa-AFP