The Nigerian military has been under fire from human rights attorney Femi Falana, SAN, following its announcement that certain personnel would face charges related to a purported plot to overthrow the government.
In an interview on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” on Tuesday, Falana stated that the revelation implied that the military officials had purposefully mislead the public.
According to the senior attorney, Nigerians should have received an apology from the military for its previous denial.
Nigerians should have received an apology from the military authority yesterday. We need to be taken seriously as a people by those in positions of authority, Falana remarked.
A retraction of such a serious stance without an apology, he continued, was inexcusable.
“You should have apologized to the Nigerian people if you had declared three months ago that there was no coup plot and, during your investigation, found that the matter went beyond indiscipline,” he stated.
Falana claims that a more honorable course of action would have been to publicly acknowledge the initial denial and issue an apology after verifying the accusations.
The military reportedly revealed the information on Monday, more than three months after it declared that 16 officers had been detained for disobedience and breaking service rules.
At the time, the military refuted claims that the cancelation of the 2025 Independence Day celebration was connected to a purported coup plot, characterizing the assertion as mischievous, untrue, and capable of causing needless anxiety and mistrust among Nigerians.
