Coup Alert: Aso Rock placed Under High Alert — Reports

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 

The commander of the Presidential Guards Brigade is holding emergency meetings with Tinubu and Gbajabiamila while key brigades are under watch due to suspicions of a coup plot in Nigeria.

Suspicion of a coup attempt in Nigeria has prompted the Presidential Guards Brigade to be placed on high alert due to strange movements.

Emergency meetings were called as a result of the suspicions, and President Bola Tinubu, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, and Commander of the Presidential Guards Brigade, Col. Adebisi Onasanya, participated.

“Last week, Col. Onasanya met with the President and Chief of Staff twice within 20 hours.

“They have also placed key brigades under watch due to planned protest,” a top Presidency source said.

The naira's floating allows market forces to decide how much it is worth. The policies have worsened the nation's suffering, raised the rate of inflation, and driven up the cost of goods and services to dizzying heights.

General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defense Staff, issued a warning last week to those advocating for a coup due to Nigeria's present economic difficulties.

The long arms of the law would soon catch up with the supporters of a coup d'état, Musa warned, adding that the Armed Forces would continue to defend the nation's democracy.

The CDS acknowledged that the nation was facing significant economic difficulties as he answered questions from the media at the official opening of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, and Officers Transit Accommodation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

However he was adamant that there was no way a military coup could occur in the nation.

He declared that the military would defend Nigeria's democracy because, in his opinion, the people of Nigeria prefer democracy and it benefits the nation.

He declared that the coup d'etat supporters “are evil people” who “don't mean well for Nigeria” and that the military would keep up its support for democracy.

“Very careful because the law will come after them,” he cautioned those who might do such things.

He said that everyone experiences difficult times in life.

“You can see the government putting efforts to ensure that we come out better.

“And it is when you go through difficulties and come out better you will really appreciate what it is to build a nation,” he said.

Meanwhile, protests against suffering, growing inflation, and the high cost of living have been held in a number of regions of the nation as a result of some of President Tinubu's administration's economic policies.

For example, to protest against the historically high rate of hunger in the country, people have protested in Kano, Ogun, Niger, Sokoto, Oyo, and Osun states.

Concurrently, the Nigeria Labour Congress declared that it would stage a nationwide demonstration on February 27 and 28 in opposition to the country's economic woes.

The choice was made in response to a 14-day ultimatum sent to the Nigerian government about the severe hardship.

However, the NLC has been advised to postpone its planned nationwide protest by the Department of State Services (DSS), Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

Likewise, the Trade Union Congress has issued a warning, citing the tense political climate brought on by the nation's recent hardships and widespread hunger as reasons why the NLC's planned protest could degenerate into chaos.

If the planned protest was carried out, the government threatened to hold the NLC in contempt of court. However, in a letter to Fagbemi, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated that NLC would not be held in contempt of court for its planned nationwide protest.

“We submit, without fear of contradiction, that the proposed public protest of the NLC is not contemptuous of the two ex parte orders of the National Industrial Court,»Falana wrote in a letter dated February 24, 2024, addressed to Fagbemi. Specifically, since the NLC has contested the National Industrial Court's authority to hear the substantive case, the contempt issue is moot.

Africa's Coup History

Over the past three years, there has been a notable surge in coups across the African continent, with military leaders assuming control of countries such as Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, Chad, and Mali.

According to data by Jonathan Powell and Clayton Thyne, of the 492 attempted or successful coups that have taken place worldwide since 1950, Africa has seen the greatest number at 220, with 109 of them succeeding.

Powell explained to VOA that this is because many of the circumstances that are typically linked to coups are present in Africa.

“Coups have become increasingly limited to the poorest countries in the world, and the recent wave of coups fits into that,” he said.

According to a World Bank estimate, Sudan had a GDP of $52 billion in 2022, while Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, and Mali all had less than $22 billion. The GDP of the United States, in contrast, was the highest in the world in 2022 at $25 trillion.

Powell asserts that nations with persistent insurgencies and terrorist campaigns, as well as those whose leaders are unpopular with the populace or the armed forces, are also disproportionately more likely to experience coups.

The leaders of the July 2023 coup in Niger and the September 2022 coup in Burkina Faso both justified their coups by pointing to their governments' inability to put an end to a lethal Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.

Powell and Thyne's data shows that 45 of the 54 African countries have experienced at least one coup attempt since 1950. Focusing only on those nations that have successfully undergone takeovers—those in which the perpetrators maintain control for a minimum of seven days—reduces the total to 37, or roughly two-thirds of the continent's countries.

Following its independence in 1960, Nigeria—the most populous country in Africa—saw eight coup attempts, six of which were successful.

However, the report pointed out that since 1999, the nation has helped bring about more stability in West Africa and the continent at large by transferring power through democratic elections.