The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), on Sunday disclosed that he was among the intended targets of the recently foiled coup plot against President Bola Tinubu, revealing that the conspirators planned to arrest or shoot him if he resisted.
Musa made the disclosure while speaking as a guest on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, where he also described the suspects behind the plot as “a bunch of very unserious individuals.”
While admitting that he played a key role in helping security agencies nip the plot in the bud, the former Chief of Defence Staff said he was personally marked for arrest by the plotters.
“I was also a target, I am sure you know. I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” he said.
“But that’s the job. Anybody who goes into coup zeroes his mind because he knows if he succeeds, good.
If he doesn’t succeed, whatever consequences come, you are ready for it.”
Musa dismissed the capacity of the suspects to successfully challenge the Nigerian state, saying their actions showed a complete misunderstanding of Nigeria’s democratic history and the strength of its armed forces.
“But again, I think these guys were just a bunch of very unserious individuals that I really don’t know. If you look at the calibre of the individuals, I really don’t know what got into their heads to think that they could take on the armed forces like that,” he said.
He added that even without the intervention of the military, Nigerians would have resisted any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government.
“What I even said was that even Nigerians would have fought them. Even without the armed forces, Nigerians would have stood against them. Remember how Nigerians fought against the military rule for quite some time. And that’s why Mr. President has always been one of them.
“So now, for them to think they could just wake up one morning and do that in Nigeria, I think something went wrong in there. They need to reset their brains.”
Speaking on the arrests made so far, the Defence Minister said most of those involved had been apprehended, with only “maybe one or two” still at large.
“So far, most of them have been caught. If there’s anyone, maybe one or two. It just started from the colonel himself, who felt disgruntled because he was not promoted. He didn’t meet the marks to be promoted,” he said.
Musa explained that the plot was driven largely by personal grievances, noting that the armed forces’ promotion system is strict and merit-based.
