The Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI) has said the continued detention of military officers over an alleged coup attempt, without formal charges or a transparent judicial process, constitutes a grave departure from constitutional governance and the rule of law.

In a statement by its Permanent Representative, Olufemi Aduwo, the body said in a constitutional democracy, deprivation of liberty cannot be founded on rumour, innuendo, or administrative suspicion.

According to Aduwo, where the state alleges an offence as serious as treason, the law requires prompt investigation, formal arraignment, and trial before a competent court of law, anything less amounts to arbitrary detention.

He said: “Of particular concern is the persistent ambiguity surrounding the allegation itself. Government authorities have neither conclusively confirmed nor categorically denied the existence of a coup attempt.

“Instead, what has entered the public space are informal claims that the officers were expressing grievances relating to career stagnation, poor welfare, and internal indiscipline.”