Winners in August Nigerian Coup Foil New Insurrection : Military Regime Tested 4 Months After Its Victory

Nigeria’s military government has foiled an attempted coup by army officers less than four months after it seized power itself from a previous military regime, state-controlled Lagos Radio said today.

Western diplomats in the Nigerian capital of Lagos said the takeover attempt occurred Wednesday in northern Nigeria.

Lagos Radio, monitored in the Ivory Coast and London, quoted Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Domkat Bali as saying that “a number” of officers had been arrested “for attempting to overthrow the federal government.”

The broadcast said he disclosed the abortive coup at a news conference in Lagos.

Warning to Those Involved

The radio said Bali warned that anyone else found to be involved will be “dealt with in accordance with military law.”

No other details were given in the official Nigerian radio broadcast.

Western diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they had not been told the names of the coup plotters.

But they speculated that the northern location of the coup attempt indicated an upsurge of dissidence among the once-dominant Hausa-Fulani ethnic group, most of whom are Muslims.

The Hausa-Fulani have criticized the military regime of Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida for appointing only two Hausa-Fulani to the 28-man Armed Forces Ruling Council.

Aug. 27 Coup

Babangida came to power last Aug. 27 in a coup that ousted the regime of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari came from the northern Hausa-Fulani elite, as did the group that dominated the country under the previous civilian government.

The elite of the Hausa-Fulani are sometimes called the Kaduna Mafia, after the town of Kaduna in northern Nigeria.

Babangida has reacted to the Hausa-Fulani criticism by calling on the military to be on the alert for internal subversion. In an address to the armed forces, he said: “You must expect that we have enemies who will not relent in their futile efforts to destabilize this nation.”

Babangida also has faced criticism from labor leaders who have opposed his strict austerity measures. When he took power, there were reports that he led the coup to forestall a coup led by radical junior officers.

Nigeria has been under military rule since Jan.1, 1984, when the elected civilian government of President Shehu Shagari was ousted.