Coup Plot: Indicted Officers Face Death Penalty Under Military Law – Retired Generals

The 16 officers indicted for plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu are reportedly facing capital punishment ranging from imprisonment to death penalty.

Recall that the military high command admitted that the officers who have been in detention since October 2025 were found guilty of the offence.

The panel, which probed the arrested officers, had submitted its findings to the president.

Retired military officers, who spoke to Daily Trust said Nigeria’s military law prescribes death penalty for attempted coup.

Gen. Bashir Adewinbi (Rtd) and Major Bashir Galma (Rtd), explained that the punishment for attempted coup is death in line with the Armed Forces Act of Nigeria.

The duo said that, except the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Tinubu, temper justice with mercy, there is no way the indicted officers can come out freely from the offence.

Gen. Adewinbi said, “The coup is a criminal offence in the military, and there are penalties for it. The military high command might have denied it for the first time for them to ascertain and conclude their investigations.

“Is it real? Is it not real? Who are the people involved? Who are the actors? Now that they have concluded and submitted their report and the report has indicated that there was a coup attempt, that means, if there was a coup, everybody must be ready to face consequences for his or her actions.

“There is no two ways about it. A coup in the military attracts the death penalty.

“When you’re caught for a coup, the consequence is the death penalty. We have witnessed it so many times in Nigeria.

“However, the President can use his prerogative to take action on the type of punishment to give them, but the normal thing is death penalty to serve as a deterrence to others who are planning to truncate the democracy we are enjoying in Nigeria, because there is no need for any coup in Nigeria today.

“It is the duty of the military to protect the present democracy. We should not truncate democracy. Whoever has planned the coup should be made to pay for it. Not only the coup, but also all of these offenders like terrorists, bandits and other criminals.

“There must be a special court to try these people. That is the only way we can reduce terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria. Let’s take the bull by the horns. Let’s give them the right punishment because they see it as a way of making money.”