Nigeria investigates coup plot

The Nigerian military government has set up a special panel to investigate an alleged plot to overthrow the country's leader, General Sani Abacha.

A military spokesman Colonel Godwin Ugbo said the twelve-member panel would be headed by a general and be given one month to make its report.

Earlier this month, the military authorities announced that Abacha's deputy, General Oladipo Diya, and a number of other officers had been arrested over the alleged plot.

ButNigerian newspapers have questioned the seriousness of the plot and called for an investigation.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service