EXCLUSIVE: ‘ I Was Promised My Family Would Be Released’: Soldier Tells Court He Was Coerced Into Copying Statement On Alleged Coup Against Tinubu

 

According to him, his detention involved being handcuffed, leg-chained and blindfolded, while he was initially taken away wearing only his boxer shorts and singlet.

A Nigerian Army corporal, Momoh Audu, told a court martial on Tuesday that he was detained underground for months following his arrest over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, and that investigators coerced him into copying a prepared statement after telling him it would secure the release of his wife and four children.

Audu, who gave evidence-in-chief on September 8, 2026, said he was arrested in Bida, Niger State, on October 10, 2025, and was subsequently taken to an Army barracks before being moved to an undisclosed location where he was allegedly held in an underground cell.

According to him, his detention involved being handcuffed, leg-chained and blindfolded, while he was initially taken away wearing only his boxer shorts and singlet.

He told the court that his detention and interrogation were connected to questions concerning an alleged coup plot and his brother, Colonel Alhassan Maaji.

Audu said that after his arrest in Bida, he was taken to Bida barracks and locked up for a day.

“The commander came to me in the guard room and told me that he was not the one looking for me,” he told the court.

He said the following day, one Captain Abbas introduced himself to him and informed him that the people who had arrested him would take him to where they were looking for him after 5:30pm.

“From there they came by that 5:30pm on October 11, 2025. They came and picked me, leg-chained me, handcuffed me and blindfolded me,” Audu said.

He said he was then put into a vehicle and driven for about three hours to an unknown location.

“Later on, I heard someone say that my blindfold should be removed. I saw a man in mufti and he stated that he is Captain Ukpon,” he said.

According to Audu, Ukpon asked him to stand up, brought out detailed information about him from his pocket, took his photograph and ordered that his handcuffs be removed.

“Later on, he called one of the handlers that they should put me in cuffs and blindfold, which they did,” he said.

Audu said he was subsequently taken to another location, where he was guided down a staircase and eventually found himself in an underground facility.

“We arrived, they removed the chains but left the blindfold. I was guided to stairs until I found myself in underground,” he said.

He told the court that he was placed in a cell and that one of his handlers eventually removed his blindfold.

Audu said he complained about the clothes he was wearing and the cold weather.

“I was brought in my boxers and singlet only. I told him that I was feeling cold. I was told to cool down,” he said.

According to him, he remained in the condition for about seven days before he was given clothes, a bedsheet, toothpaste and other basic items.

He further told the court that on October 12, 2025, he was taken out of the underground facility for questioning.

“So on 12th October, 2025, they sent for me. The handler said we are going out. They carried me into the motor,” he said.

He said that when they arrived at another location, his blindfold was removed and he saw Captain Ukpon.

“He said his superiors are coming. Azhinze, Uromoh was there already,” Audu said.

According to him, the men began questioning him about whether he knew Maaji, whether he knew that Maaji had been arrested and what he knew about an alleged coup plot.

“They started asking if I knew Maaji. They said if I knew he was arrested and what I knew about the coup plot. I said I didn’t know,” he told the court.

Audu said the men later called his handler and instructed that he be taken back because, according to them, he was not ready to talk.

He said he was later brought back for another questioning session, during which he saw Ukpon and another officer identified as Chimah.

“They said that we should not go in the room. We sat outside,” he said.

Alleged Coercion

According to him, the officers asked where his family members were and he told them.

“Chimah said, ‘Do you know that your family were arrested in Minna. Your wife and four children.’”

Audu said Chimah then told him that he should cooperate and provide information concerning the alleged coup plot.

He maintained that he did not know anything about the alleged plot and also told them that he did not know that Maaji had been arrested.

“I already told them three days ago that I didn’t know anything,” he said.

According to Audu, Chimah told him that his wife and four children were being detained in a military police guard room in Minna.

He said he informed the officers that he had no knowledge of the detention because he had not had access to anyone since his arrest.

Audu said Chimah subsequently ordered his handler to take him back to the underground detention facility.

He told the court that he remained there for approximately 11 days before he was allegedly subjected to further pressure to write a statement because of the information he had been given about his family.

He said investigators eventually brought him a typed statement on October 21, 2025 and instructed him to copy it.

According to him, he was repeatedly reminded that his family had allegedly been arrested and detained in Minna.

“They keep telling me that my brother Maaji did not go through what I’m going through. ‘Your family have been arrested and detained in Minna. Audu, you’re an ordinary corporal, we can tell you lied.’”

He said he was urged to cooperate.

“I asked if my family are soldiers. He said the best thing to do is to cooperate,” Audu said.

He told the court that he informed them that he could not even write at the time.

Audu said that on October 21, 2025, he eventually agreed to copy the statement because of the promise allegedly made to him concerning his family.

“On October 21, 2025, that was the day I accepted for the sake of the release of my family,” he said.

“I was promised that if I copied what they wrote, my family and I would be released.”

He said he was then taken to a hall, where his blood pressure was checked and found to be 190.

“I was then put in a hall and someone came to test my BP, which was 190. They brought me to a chair to lie down,” he said.

According to him, the typed statement was subsequently brought to him and he copied it.

“I did not construct the sentence. They interviewed me. I told them I was not feeling like myself because my family were detained,” Audu said.

He further told the court that he was prepared to make the statement under the circumstances because of his concern for his family.

“I said that they can kill me if it means my family would be released,” he said.

Audu said that after copying the statement, he was returned to the underground facility.

He said it was only after about four days that he was able to confirm that his family members had been released.

“After I copied the statement after four days, I got to know that DIA gave us a phone and I confirmed that my family was released. I spoke with my wife, and she narrated everything,” he said.

He told the court that despite the release of his family, he remained in detention.

“After I copied the first statement, I was returned underground,” he said.

Audu Alleges Poor Feeding

Audu also alleged that he was not adequately fed during his detention.

“They have not been giving me enough food. I was only fed once before I wrote the first statement,” he told the court.

He said a second statement dated February 4, 2026, was obtained through what he described as a similar process.

According to him, he was brought out together with another soldier, Corporal Aliyu, for identification.

“The second statement of February 4, 2026, was done through the same process. They called me and Corporal Aliyu for us to identify ourselves,” he said.

He said he sat with Chimah and Ukpon, while Aliyu was brought before them.

“They brought Aliyu and asked if he knew me. He said he’s a brother to Maaji. I also identified Corporal Aliyu as an orderly to Maaji,” Audu said.

He stated that the officers subsequently told him that his family had been released and that they wanted him to implicate Aliyu, whom they claimed would know more about Maaji than he did.

Audu said he requested that the officers allow him to speak with his wife to confirm the information about his family but that the request was rejected.

“I asked that a call be made to my wife. They said no need, and that they ordered for their release,” he said.

He said he rejected the request to implicate Aliyu.

“They said this is the final one for the sake of myself and I would be released. And they said I could be used as prosecution witness,” Audu said.

However, he told the court that he refused to testify about matters he said he had no knowledge of.

“I declined and said, ‘God forbid I testify for what I don’t know.’ I wrote based on the promises made to me,” he said.

Audu said he was subsequently taken back to the underground detention facility, where he remained.

He also told the court that he had developed difficulty reading after being kept in the facility.

“Since that time, I have not been able to read clearly because of two bright lights,” Audu said.

During cross-examination, Audu was asked about his relationship with Maaji and whether he worked with him.

“Who were you working with?” he was asked.

He replied: “I am not attached to anyone. I was not a driver to anyone. I was never working with Maaji.”

He explained that although he sometimes drove Maaji when he was on pass and in Abuja, Maaji had his own driver and orderly.

“If I come on pass and branch Abuja, I can drive him. We go out sometimes. He has his own driver and orderly,” he said.

Audu was also questioned about his movement between Bida and Abuja.

He said he had applied for a pass to travel between Abuja and Bida and that his unit had approved the pass.

He denied being in Abuja during the period in question.

“I was never in Abuja on that pass. I was not in Abuja in September,” he told the court.

He confirmed that his family was in Bida at the time.

He also denied deceiving the authorities over his movements.

Asked about the duration of his pass, he said it was for about three weeks and not two months.

“I was given about three weeks pass. No, my pass was not for two months,” he said.

Audu further told the court that he served in Minna under the 313 Artillery Regiment before being posted to Port Harcourt.

He also confirmed that he remembered his Army number.

During the cross-examination, he said the draft copy of the statement he copied was with Captain Ukpon.

Asked about his educational background, Audu said he attended primary school but could not recall the name of his secondary school.

He also reiterated his allegation concerning the food he received while in detention.

“In my own case, they only fed me once a day because I did not cooperate with them at that time,” he said.

Audu was then walked through the cautionary words contained in the statement.

“(Reads the cautionary words)… Yes, I appeared before Special Investigative Panel,” he said.

When it was put to him that the promise concerning his family could not have been made in the presence of the person conducting the cross-examination, Audu replied: “The promise made to me exists. You were not there.”

He was also asked about the clothing he wore when he eventually copied the October 21 statement.

Audu said he was dressed at the time he copied the statement but clarified that the clothes had not been supplied by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

“21st October statement, I was dressed. It was not DIA that gave me those clothes but Boko Haram and Pakistani suspects in the cell with me,” he said.

There was no re-examination of the witness.

The witness was subsequently stood down.

SOURCE: SAHARA REPORTERS