For months rumours and secrecy have surrounded last year’s alleged Independence Day coup plot in Nigeria – but with this week’s indictment of six civilians accused of involvement comes the first details of what is said to have been an elaborate plan to oust President Bola Tinubu.

It was due to take place on 1 October 2025 – the day Nigeria marked the 36th anniversary of its independence from the UK.

But at the very last minute the celebratory parade, to be attended by the president, was cancelled – and the government and military were tight-lipped about why.

It was only in January that the military announced, in a statement short on detail, that 16 unnamed senior military officers were to face a court-martial over an alleged plot – effectively admitting a coup attempt had been thwarted.

Now court documents, filed by state prosecutors at the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, have revealed the name of the alleged mastermind and suggest that one of the major aims of the plotters was to destabilise the state ahead of the planned takeover.

The six going on trial at the High Court cannot go before a military court as they are civilians, including a serving police inspector and retired military personnel.

They have denied the 13 charges, including treason, terrorism and money laundering – and while they may not necessarily be the ringleaders, their trial is likely to shed light on an alleged plan that is said to have involved all elements of Nigeria’s security forces.

Nigeria has a long history of military takeovers but has been under civilian rule since 1999. Several other West African countries have experienced coups in recent years and there has been speculation that Nigeria could be next, with economic hardship rising and accusations that the political system was rigged in favour of a small elite.

Court documents point to Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji as the alleged chief strategist.

Little is known about the 50-year-old, a Muslim born in western Niger state who spent much of his early army career in the southern oil-rich Niger Delta region and where he climbed the ranks in the mid-2000s.

This was when oil militancy was at its height and heavily armed militants on speedboats were attacking oil installations and kidnapping foreign oil workers for ransom.

He is said to have developed close ties with oil businessman and one-time governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, who was instrumental in getting the oil militants to agree to a ceasefire which eventually led to an amnesty in the creeks in 2009.

Ma’aji even co-ordinated security for Syla during his failed bid to win a second term as governor in 2015, according to several newspaper reports.

It is this relationship that appears to be central to the alleged coup plot.

One of the military investigators, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, says this is where Timipre Sylva is alleged to come in.

The 67-year-old was not officially indicted this week, but his name appears in seven of the 13 counts – with the words “still at large” written every time he is mentioned.

Sylva served as the oil minister during the final term of President Muhammadu Buhari which ended in 2023, and the investigators believe he was a key financier of this alleged plot to overthrow Buhari’s successor.

He is a member of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party but is known not to have backed Tinubu when he stood for president in 2023.

In the wake of the cancelled Independence Day events, Sylva’s house in Abuja was raided by investigators, and at the time his spokesman denied the wealthy politician’s involvement in the alleged plot.

He maintained the allegations and a subsequent arrest warrant issued for Sylva in a separate corruption case were politically motivated.