Alleged Coup Plot: Detained Cleric, Sheikh Sani Moved To DSS Custody

The detained Islamic cleric, Sheikh Sani Abdulkadir Zaria, accused of plotting a coup against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, has been handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS).

A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Peter Lifu had on Friday ordered the DIA to produce the cleric on February 18 to determine his bail application.

The counsel to the cleric, Mohammed Sheriff, however, told the court at the resumed hearing on Wednesday that the cleric was now in DSS custody.

A court staff member told Daily Trust that the judge was attending the inauguration of 14 new judges of the Federal High Court at the Supreme Court on the same day.

Sheikh Abdulkadir had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the DIA, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Jaiz Bank Plc, seeking his release from detention.

Family sources linked the cleric’s ordeal to a ₦2 million gift wired to the bank account of the detained leader of the Fityanul Islam Tijanniyya sect by one of his adherents, who was indicted in the recent coup allegation.

The judge noted that since December 11, 2025, the applicant was kept in “safe custody” without access to family and associates after an investigation was opened about him, on grounds described as security reasons.