Coup Rumor: Presidency Rattled, Beefs Up Security Around Buhari

By Uche Mbah

Rattled by rumors that a group was circulating a document calling for a Coup d’etat against the presidency of Muhammadu Buhrai, Government have beefed up security around Around Aso Rock and the President.

The Magazine gathered that the Presidential Guard, the group that is sworn to the protection of the president under any circumstance, is undergoing a silent shakeup while there is an ongoing massive redeployment of Aso Rock staff. This has become necessary particularly in the wake of the 2015 general election, when Buhari lost in his Aso Rock ward. This was interpreted as a bad omen, indicating the President is no longer safe within the vicinity of the presidential Villa.

Recall that a group, Joint Niger Delta Liberation Front, JNDLF, have, about two years ago, indicated that a group of Military officers have approached them for co-operation in removing President Buhari.The group, which had remained faceless, did come under fire from the Military high command, who saw their statement as a distraction from the war against Terror and Bandits. “This is not true”,  Buratai had said, “And (The Nigerian Army) hereby distances itself from this weighty allegation. We also see this speculation as a dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other criminal elements in the country.”

Apart from the beefing up of security in Aso Rock resulting from the current coup scare, the Military high command has in recent times effected military postings believed not to be unconnected with security signals. Unconfirmed reports indicate that there is an ongoing underground probe of the allegation of complicity of the Nigerian Army in the document under circulation.

But there appears to be a spate of skepticism in some quarters. For example, the former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has dismissed the denial of involvement of the Nigerian Army in the coup document. He had tweeted that the army should not be taken serious, afterall there was a coup rumor in 1985 which the army promptly denied only for the coup that brought Mohammadu Buhari into power to take place shortly after.