The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has claimed that he was a target for the officers accused of plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
According to Musa, the plan was to shoot him if he resisted.
Musa disclosed this on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, days after the military announced that 16 officers arrested in October 2025 would face trial over an alleged coup plot.
The former Chief of Defence Staff said he became aware that he was listed as a target of the plotters.
He said, “I was also a target. I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot.
“But that’s the job. And anybody who goes into coup, I mean, zeroes his mind because you know, you succeed good, you don’t succeed, whatever consequences come, you’re ready for it. But again, I think these guys were just a bunch of very unserious individuals that really don’t know.
“If you look at the calibre of the individuals, if you look at, I don’t know what’s got into their heads to think that they could take on the armed forces like that. What I even said was even Nigerians will have fought them. Even without the armed forces, Nigerians would have stood against them. Remember, Nigerians have fought against the military rule for quite some time.”
