Nigeria Charges 6 Over Coup Plot       04/21 06:14

   

   ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian authorities have charged six people, 
including a retired major general and a serving police inspector, with 
terrorism and treason, over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, 
according to a charge sheet seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

   The six were all in custody. A seventh suspect, former Bayelsa state Gov. 
Timpre Sylva, is accused of helping to conceal the plot and is still at large.

   In the 13-count charge sheet, authorities said suspects "conspired with one 
another to levy war against the state to overawe the president of the Federal 
Republic."

   The Nigerian government first said it had foiled a coup attempt in January, 
when it announced that several military officers would stand trial. They were 
part of a group of 16 military officers arrested in 2025 over what military 
authorities described as "acts of indiscipline and breaches of service 
regulations," which fueled rumors of a coup plot that the government initially 
denied.

   Africa's most populous nation experienced five coups in the 20th century but 
has not seen one since it transitioned to democracy in 1999.

   The alleged coup plot comes on the heels of a surge in coups and attempted 
coups in West and Central Africa, the latest in Benin and Guinea-Bissau late 
last year. The military takeovers, experts say, follow a pattern of disputed 
elections, constitutional upheaval, security crises and youth discontent.