Alleged Coup Web Widens: Nollywood, Police, and Military Officers Entangled
By Passman Akpos
A Nollywood filmmaker and actor, Stanley Amandi, has been named among those arrested and detained by Nigerian military authorities over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government.
Earlier, SaharaReporters exclusively reported the arrest of a serving police officer alongside several military officers accused of planning to terminate Nigeria’s democratic order.
According to a report by PREMIUM TIMES, Amandi—a director and former chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN)—was arrested in September 2025 in connection with the alleged coup plot. Military sources said the actor was recruited by the alleged plotters to serve as a propagandist in a plan that reportedly included the assassination of President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
Amandi is a well-known figure in Nollywood, with credits as an actor, production manager, producer, and director. His works include The Album (director), Tiger King (director and producer, 2008), Cornerstone (producer, 2019), and Once Upon a Dream (actor, 2024). His last activity on Instagram was on September 19, 2025, shortly before his arrest.
SaharaReporters also learnt that a serving police officer, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim from Taraba State, was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and is currently being held in the agency’s custody.
In total, at least 35 military officers are reportedly being detained in connection with the alleged plot. Those held include an Army Brigadier General, two Colonels, five Lieutenant Colonels, one Wing Commander (Air Force equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel), eight Majors, one Lieutenant Commander (Navy equivalent of a Major), two Squadron Leaders (Air Force equivalent of a Major), five Captains, and a Lieutenant.
Additionally, 10 non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are said to be in custody, including a Warrant Officer, five Sergeants, one Corporal, and two Lance Corporals.
While one of the detained Army Captains, A. Yusuf, is from Osun State, and Squadron Leader Zuzu, a senior Air Force officer, is from Bayelsa State, the remaining 33 officers are reportedly from northern states, including the Federal Capital Territory, which accounts for three officers.
Breakdowns of the detainees’ origins indicate that two officers—a Brigadier General and a Lieutenant Colonel—are from Nasarawa State, while six, including three NCOs, are from Niger State. Three officers, including a Colonel who was reportedly on a course in a North African country, are from Katsina State.
Three Lieutenant Colonels are from Kaduna, Plateau, and Kano States. Two Majors are from Gombe State, with another from Bauchi. Others are said to be from Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Taraba, Yobe, Kogi, Sokoto, and Adamawa States.
In October 2025, SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that some military officers were arrested by the DIA in Abuja over an alleged plot to overthrow President Tinubu’s administration.
The Defence Intelligence Agency, established in 1986, is Nigeria’s primary military intelligence body responsible for countering security threats and safeguarding national integrity.At the time, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) dismissed reports linking the arrests to a coup plot, insisting that the detentions were unrelated to any attempt to overthrow the government.
However, fresh revelations have deepened concerns over the handling of the detainees.
On January 23, 2026, SaharaReporters reported that at least five of the detained officers had fallen ill in custody, with two reportedly collapsing due to worsening conditions.
Sources alleged that the officers were transferred from an initial DIA detention facility to an underground military cell in Abuja described as dark, poorly ventilated, and inhumane.Families of the detainees have raised repeated concerns over prolonged incommunicado detention, denial of access to lawyers, and lack of information about transfers between detention facilities.
Some spouses told SaharaReporters that they had been barred from visits since the arrests and were not officially informed of their loved ones’ whereabouts.The case has also attracted political attention following reports that military operatives raided the Maitama residence of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, in connection with the investigation.
Sylva later confirmed the visit but denied any involvement, describing attempts to link him to the alleged plot as politically motivated.
Despite earlier official denials, a statement issued by the Defence Headquarters on Monday has now formally acknowledged that allegations of plotting to overthrow the government were among the findings against some of the detained officers, marking a significant shift in the military’s public position on the matter.
