The Nigerian Army has taken to social media to quell speculations of a possible military coup to oust the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, calling it a “fake news”.
This follows reports on Sunday that the presidential guards have been placed on “high alert” over suspicions of a coup plot in Nigeria by some media outlets (TheNiche not inclusive).
According to the reports, key brigades were placed under the watch as the Commander of the Presidential Guards Brigade, Col. Adebisi Onasanya, who held crucial meetings with Tinubu and his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
However, reacting to the speculations, the Army quoted one of such reports on its official X page and countered it saying, “FAKE NEWS”.
Since the current administration’s decision to remove fuel subsidy and float the naira, Nigerians have faced worsening economic hardship, rising inflation and high cost of living.
Last week, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, warned against calls for a coup and asked people to desist from such.
He went on to caution those calling for a coup in the country over the current economic realities that the law will catch up with them.
He made this known after inaugurating the main entrance of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army and Officers Transit Accommodation, at the Division Headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Speaking at the event, Musa said: “Whoever is making that call (coup) does not love Nigeria. We want to make it very clear that the Armed Forces of Nigeria are here to protect democracy.
“We all want democracy and we do better under democracy. And so we will continue to support democracy. And any of those ones that are calling for anything other than democracy are evil people and I think they don’t mean well for Nigeria.
“And they should be very careful because the law will come after them. We can see that with democracy a lot of things are happening in Nigeria. Yes we are going through trying periods, I mean in life nothing is hundred per cent.”
