Fresh allegations have emerged over the treatment of individuals detained in connection with the alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu, with relatives accusing personnel of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) of unlawfully accessing the detainees’ mobile phones and bank accounts.
The families alleged that millions of naira disappeared from the accounts of some of the suspects while they remained in military custody.
They further claimed that unauthorised withdrawals, airtime purchases and loans were made using the detainees’ banking applications after security operatives allegedly gained access to their mobile devices.
The DIA had yet to respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
Relatives of some of the detained suspects told SaharaReporters that the suspects’ mobile phones were allegedly accessed after their arrest, giving those in possession of the devices access to banking applications and other personal information.
According to the families, suspicious transactions began shortly after the arrests and continued for several weeks.
“They forcefully accessed their phones. After that, they started using their bank accounts,” one relative told Sahara Reporters.
“Anytime we tried to use our father’s debit card, it always showed that there was no money in the account.”
According to the report, email notifications from one of the affected bank accounts showed multiple successful logins on July 14, 2026.
Family members argued that the account holder could not have authorised the logins because he was in detention at the time and had no access to his phone.
The report further claimed that financial records indicated that an account balance of about ₦5.2 million had allegedly been depleted over several weeks, leaving only about ₦5,000.
Relatives also alleged that a loan of ₦197,000, with an upfront charge of ₦23,000, was obtained in one detainee’s name without the account holder’s knowledge or consent.
According to them, similar login notifications were observed on another detainee’s account, although they said they could not immediately determine whether funds had been withdrawn.
The fresh allegations come amid earlier claims that one of the military officers standing trial over the alleged coup plot, Captain M.L. Muhammad, collapsed while in detention.
According to SaharaReporters, security sources claimed the officer suffered convulsions and other medical complications, leading to the suspension of proceedings before the General Court Martial.
The report also alleged that the officer was being held in an underground detention facility operated by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
The allegations regarding the alleged unauthorised banking transactions and the conditions of detention have not been independently verified.
