NIGERIA’S WHITEWASHED HEADS OF STATE — THE KANO EMPERORS (3)
By: Akinyemi, Muhammed Adedeji
Phantom Coup
The coup trial of 1995 was a farce, with over 300 military personnel and civilians arrested and tortured to admit to committing a non-existent coup (1). The coup was tagged a phantom coup, and journalists who reported that it was a ruse were equally arrested. Chris Anyanwu, a popular Nigerian journalist working with The Sunday Magazine was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, which was commuted to 15 years, for reporting on a failed coup d’état (2). Anyanwu’s was a spectacular case because before she published the existence of a supposedly failed-coup, the director of defence information denied the existence of such, only for Abdusalam Abubakar, Chief of Defence Staff to announce 3 days later that there had been a coup (3).
The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) claimed to have found evidence for 3 different but overlapping coup plots, one allegedly headed by Colonels Gwadabe and Bello-Fadile, a second led by Major Akinloye Akinyemi and a third led by Yar’Adua. It recommended a trial (4). During the coup trial, Obasanjo objected to being tried by a junior officer as a retired 4-star-General, with the only officer with enough rank to try him being Abacha, his objection was overruled. These are the alleged plots:
