Air Force Officer in Foiled Coup Plot Allegedly Instructed to Kill NSA Nuhu Ribadu

Fresh details have emerged about the recently foiled coup plot in Nigeria, with investigations revealing that a Nigerian Air Force officer assigned to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was allegedly detailed to assassinate the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

According to sources familiar with the ongoing investigation, the suspect, identified as Squadron Leader S.B. Adamu (Service No. NAF/3481) from Jigawa State, was recently posted to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) a unit coordinated under ONSA barely four weeks before the alleged plot was uncovered.

Security insiders disclosed that Adamu’s posting was part of a routine personnel rotation, but intelligence later suggested that he had been infiltrated by elements linked to the foiled coup plan. His reported mission, investigators allege, was to eliminate Ribadu as part of a broader plot to destabilize the national security architecture.

Sources said the conspiracy was uncovered through “credible intelligence and internal surveillance mechanisms” within the Armed Forces and security community, leading to swift action that thwarted the plot before it could be executed.

“The officer was embedded within ONSA structures, particularly at the NCTC, to gather information and strike at a strategic target. His assignment was to take out the NSA, but the plan was foiled before it could materialize,” a senior security source familiar with the matter revealed.

It was also gathered that Adamu and several other suspects are currently being held in a secure military facility in Abuja, where they are undergoing interrogation. The investigation is reportedly being handled jointly by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and military police authorities.

Officials have remained tight-lipped about the broader implications of the coup plot, but security analysts say the development underscores the seriousness of internal threats facing Nigeria’s defence establishment.

Neither the Nigerian Air Force nor the Office of the National Security Adviser had issued an official statement as of the time of filing this report.

The alleged plot marks one of the most daring security breaches in recent years, coming at a time when the Tinubu administration continues to emphasize loyalty and professionalism within the Armed Forces and security agencies.