Nollywood filmmaker and actor Stanley Amandi was arrested in September 2025 in connection with an alleged plot by some military officers to violently overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Mr Amandi, a director and former chairperson of the Enugu State Chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, was apprehended alongside officers accused of masterminding the plot. His alleged involvement is only now being made public.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the actor was recruited by the alleged coup plotters to function as a propagandist, as part of a broader plan that reportedly included the assassination of senior government officials.
According to government sources who briefed PREMIUM TIMES last year, those marked for elimination included President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, among others.
READ ALSO: Defence Headquarters Denies Coup Rumour, Clarifies Officers Arrest
The Defence Headquarters on Monday confirmed the existence of a plan to illegally remove the Tinubu administration, announcing that the implicated officers would be arraigned before military judicial panels.
In a statement, the Defence Headquarters said investigations into the matter had been concluded and forwarded to “appropriate superior authority in line with extant regulations.”
The military said the probe was “comprehensive” and followed established procedures, examining “all circumstances surrounding the conduct of the affected personnel.”
It added that the findings identified “a number of the officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government,” noting that such actions were “inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards required of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
In October last year, the military disclosed that 16 officers were under investigation, although it initially described the probe as relating to “indiscipline and breach of service regulations.”
Further arrests of both officers and civilians were later made as investigators expanded their inquiries. Sources said several suspects, including senior military officers, are expected to face trials in both military court martials and civil courts.
Under the proposed legal process, military personnel will first be tried by court martial before any possible civil proceedings, while civilians implicated in the alleged plot, including Mr Amandi, will be prosecuted in civil courts.
Mr Amandi is a well-known figure in Nollywood, with credits as an actor, director and production manager. His works include The Album (director), Tiger King (director and producer, 2008), Cornerstone (producer, 2019), and Once Upon a Dream, in which he appeared as an actor in 2024.
His last post on Instagram was made on 19 September 2025, days before his arrest.
