Nigerian Army Corporal Momoh Audu has told a court martial that he was subjected to months of underground detention and allegedly forced to copy a prepared statement in connection with investigations into an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu after investigators allegedly threatened him with the detention of his wife and four children.
Audu, who gave evidence-in-chief before the court martial on September 8, 2026, said he was arrested in Bida, Niger State, on October 10, 2025, and subsequently transferred from an Army barracks to an undisclosed location where he was allegedly held in an underground cell.
According to him, he was handcuffed, leg-chained and blindfolded during his transfer and was initially taken away wearing only his boxer shorts and singlet.
Audu said his detention and interrogation were linked to questions concerning an alleged coup plot and his brother, Colonel Alhassan Maaji.
He told the court that following his arrest in Bida, he was taken to Bida barracks and locked up for one day.
“The commander came to me in the guard room and told me that he was not the one looking for me,” he said.
Audu said that the following day, a Captain Abbas introduced himself and told him that those who had arrested him would take him to the place 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,” he told the court.
He said he was then put into a vehicle and driven for approximately three hours to an unknown location.
According to the witness, his blindfold was later removed and he saw a man dressed in civilian clothes who identified himself as Captain Ukpon.
Audu said Ukpon ordered him to stand, brought out detailed information about him from his pocket, took his photograph and directed 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,” Audu said.
He said he was subsequently moved to another location, where he was guided down a staircase while still blindfolded.
“We arrived, they removed the chains but left the blindfold. I was guided to stairs until I found myself in underground,” he said.
Audu told the court that he was placed in a cell and that one of his handlers eventually removed his blindfold.
He said he complained about the clothes he was wearing and the cold conditions.
“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 that condition for about seven days before he was provided with clothes, a bedsheet, toothpaste and other basic items.
The witness further told the court that he was taken from the underground facility on October 12, 2025, for interrogation.
“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 his blindfold was removed after they arrived at another location, where he saw Captain Ukpon.
“He said his superiors are coming. Azhinze, Uromoh was there already,” Audu said.
According to him, the officers questioned him about his relationship with Maaji, whether he knew that Maaji had been arrested and what he knew about the 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 officers eventually instructed that he be returned to the detention facility because they believed he was not ready to provide the information they wanted.
He said he was later taken out again for further questioning, during which he saw Ukpon and another officer he identified as Chimah.
It was during this questioning, according to the witness, that investigators allegedly introduced his family into the interrogation.
Audu said the officers asked him where his family members were, after which he provided the information.
“Chimah said, ‘Do you know that your family were arrested in Minna. Your wife and four children,’” he told the court.
He said Chimah subsequently urged him to cooperate and provide information concerning the alleged coup plot.
Audu maintained that he knew nothing about any such plot and had not known that Maaji had been arrested.
“I already told them three days ago that I didn’t know anything,” he said.
According to him, Chimah told him that his wife and four children were being detained in a military police guard room in Minna.
Audu said he informed the officers that he had no knowledge of the alleged detention because he had not been allowed access to anyone since his arrest.
He said Chimah subsequently ordered his handler to return him to the underground detention facility.
The corporal told the court that he remained there for approximately 11 days before investigators allegedly intensified pressure on him to make a statement.
He said investigators repeatedly reminded him that his family had allegedly been arrested and detained in Minna.
According to Audu, a typed statement was brought to him on October 21, 2025, with instructions that he should copy it.
“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 told that the best option was to cooperate.
“I asked if my family are soldiers. He said the best thing to do is to cooperate,” Audu said.
The witness said he told the investigators that he was physically unable to write at the time.
However, he said he eventually agreed to copy the statement because of the alleged promise 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.”
Audu said he was taken to a hall where his blood pressure was checked and recorded at 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 told the court.
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,” he said.
Audu said his concern for his family influenced his decision to make the statement.
“I said that they can kill me if it means my family would be released,” he told the court.
After copying the statement, he said he was returned to the underground facility.
Audu said that approximately four days later, he was able to establish that his family members had been released after the Defence Intelligence Agency allegedly provided a telephone.
“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.
Despite the alleged release of his family, Audu said he remained in detention.
“After I copied the first statement, I was returned underground,” he said.
The corporal also alleged that he was poorly fed throughout his detention.
“They have not been giving me enough food. I was only fed once before I wrote the first statement,” he said.
Audu told the court that a second statement dated February 4, 2026, was obtained through what he described as a similar process.
He said he was brought out alongside 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.
According to him, 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 alleged that the officers subsequently told him that his family had been released and attempted to persuade him to implicate Aliyu, whom they claimed would know more about Maaji than he did.
Audu said he requested permission to speak with his wife to verify that his family had been released, but 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.
The witness 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,” he said.
Audu 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.
He said he was subsequently returned to the underground detention facility.
Audu also told the court that his prolonged detention had affected his ability to read clearly.
“Since that time, I have not been able to read clearly because of two bright lights,” he said.
During cross-examination, Audu was questioned about his relationship with Maaji and whether he worked directly with him.
Asked who he was working with, 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.
The witness was also questioned about his movements between Bida and Abuja.
Audu said he had applied for a pass to travel between the two locations and that his unit had approved the request.
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 said.
He confirmed that his family was in Bida at the time and denied deceiving authorities about his movements.
Asked about the duration of his pass, Audu said it lasted approximately 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 cross-examination, the witness said the draft copy of the statement he was instructed to copy 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 maintained his allegation that he was inadequately fed during his detention.
“In my own case, they only fed me once a day because I did not cooperate with them at that time,” he said.
The witness was also taken through the cautionary words contained in the statement.
“(Reads the cautionary words)… Yes, I appeared before Special Investigative Panel,” he said.
When it was suggested to him that the alleged promise concerning his family could not have been made in the presence of the person conducting the cross-examination, Audu maintained that the promise was made.
“The promise made to me exists. You were not there,” he replied.
He was also questioned about the clothes he wore when he copied the October 21 statement.
Audu said he was dressed when he made the statement but clarified that the clothes were not supplied by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
“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 following the cross-examination.
Audu was subsequently stood down.
The allegations made by the corporal before the court martial, including claims of prolonged underground detention, coercion, threats concerning his family and the circumstances surrounding the statements he copied, remain part of the evidence before the tribunal as proceedings continue.