from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – THE Nigerian Defence has dismissed allegations of a planned coup by the military.
The dismissal follows an article along those lines by a local publication claiming that the Guards Brigade had been put on high alert following “unusual movements” by some members of the military, leading to suspicion of an overthrow of the government.
The publication also asserted, among other things, that the suspicion prompted an emergency meeting involving President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Staff to the President and Commander of the Guards Brigade.
“The Defence Headquarters wishes to categorically state that the allegation is totally false,” Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, Acting Director of Defence Information, said.
He said the Guards Brigade had been statutorily assigned the responsibility of protecting The Presidency and by extension the Federal Capital Territory and its environs.
“Hence, it is to be noted that the Guards Brigade has always been on high alert in order to effectively execute its assigned tasks.”
Gusau recalled that the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, had in various fora reiterated the commitment of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to the protection and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.
“Therefore, the Defence Headquarters strongly condemn this unsubstantiated assertion which is just a figment of imagination of the publisher and enjoins members of the public to disregard it,” Gusau said.
Africa’s largest nation by population, Nigeria, suffered a string of coups for decades before returning to civilian rule in 1999.
– CAJ News