Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, has faulted the Nigerian military for what he described as a failure of accountability, following its initial denial of an alleged coup plot, only to later confirm arrests and plans to prosecute implicated officers.
Falana made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, where he insisted that the Armed Forces should formally apologise to Nigerians for misleading the public.
According to him, the military authorities had a duty to own up to their earlier position and offer an apology after admitting that officers were indeed arrested over an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
“Yesterday, the military authorities ought to have apologised to Nigerians. People in authority must learn to take us seriously as a people,” Falana said.
On Monday, the Defence Headquarters announced that some serving officers would be arraigned before a military judicial panel over their alleged involvement in a coup plot.
This revelation came more than three months after the arrest of 16 officers in October 2025, which the military initially attributed to acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations.
At the time, the military had also dismissed claims linking the cancellation of the 2025 Independence Day parade to any coup plot, describing such reports as “false, malicious, and capable of creating unnecessary tension and distrust among Nigerians.”
Reacting to the latest admission, Falana accused the military of deliberately misleading the public and failing to act honourably.
“If you had made a statement three months ago that there was no coup plot and, in the course of your investigation, discovered that the matter went beyond indiscipline, you ought to have apologised to the Nigerian people,” he said.
The senior lawyer argued that a reversal on such a grave national security issue without a public apology was unacceptable, stressing that transparency and accountability were essential to maintaining public trust.
Falana further questioned the plan to subject the detained officers to court martial proceedings, noting that allegations bordering on a coup plot amount to treason or treasonable felony, offences which, he said, fall strictly within the jurisdiction of the Federal or State High Courts, not military tribunals.
He expressed hope that the military authorities would still do the needful by offering a public apology to Nigerians.
