Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya and the Myth of the “Phantom Coup”
On 14 February 1998, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya was arraigned before a Special Military Tribunal in Jos, chaired by Gen. Victor Malu, following his arrest on 21 December 1997 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government of Late Gen. Sani Abacha. From the outset, Diya claimed he had been framed by the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, alleging that Bamaiyi introduced the coup idea and questioning why he was not also on trial.
Soon after this outburst, the proceedings were closed to the public, deepening public suspicion and confusion.
On 28 April 1998, Diya and eight others were sentenced to d*ath by f*ring squad. With the trial conducted in secrecy, Nigerians were left with competing narratives about what truly transpired.
Greater clarity emerged during the sittings of the Oputa Panel. In his petition, Diya alleged human rights abuses and insisted the coup was a “phantom.” However, he stood alone in this claim. Other principal actors, Maj. Gen. Abdulkarim Adisa, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, Maj. Hamza Mustapha, and Maj. Olusegun Fadipe, all confirmed that a coup plot existed.
Fadipe, Diya’s Chief Security Officer, testified that Diya actively planned a takeover with Bamaiyi and Magashi. He confirmed Gen. Abacha and Maj. Mustapha, were marked for el*min*tion but he advised against it and promise to arrest Maj Mustapha who was the only threat. Fadipe also confirmed delivering ₦2 million from Diya to Bamaiyi to fund the operation.
Adisa corroborated the plot. According to him, “Although what Gen. Diya invited me for and told me was that there was a four-point demand they wanted to present to the Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, of which I asked him if Gen. Abacha did not agree what will happen; but to me that demand was a coup because if Gen. Abacha did not agree they will resort to force to overthrow his government.
Gen. Bamaiyi confirmed that he was approached by Diya for the coup and he reported the discussion to Sani Abacha who encouraged him to play along, which he did. Bamaiyi maintained that the only reason Diya wanted to stage the coup was because he wanted to seize power as he often told them “I rely on you boys, don’t forget to maintain the hierarchy”.
He was also the sole financier as he doled out A total of $60,000:00 (Sixty thousand US Dollars) in $50,000:00 (Fifty thousand US Dollars) Travellers Cheque denomination and $10,000:00 (Ten thousand US Dollars) Cash and Two million naira (N2,000,000:00). Maj. Gen. A.T. Olarenwaju provided a total sum of N1.5 million.
All those arrested confirmed that Diya’s four-point demand which included; that Abacha renounced his self-succession bid existed only in his imagination.
The convergence of testimony and material evidence makes one conclusion unavoidable: the 1997 coup plot was real, and the claim of a “phantom coup” remains a post-trial denial rather than historical fact and he remained the only Chief of General staff that participated in unsuccessful coup in Nigeria.
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