The plot, as described by the government of Burkina Faso, targeted President Blaise Compaoré – who, together with Lingani and Zongo, had previously carried out two coups in the country.

Compaoré, Lingani and Zongo had gotten to know each other in the late 1970s, in what was then the Republic of Upper Volta, as low-ranking officers and members of the ROC, a clandestine left-wing movement.

Burkinabé authorities allege that on 18 September 1989, while President Compaoré was on a state visit to China, a planned coup was discovered by Captain Gilbert Diendéré, commander of the Regiment of Presidential Security.

The plot, found out just prior to Comaporé's return to the country, was supposed to have taken place the moment Compaoré landed in Ouagadougou.

"[4] Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, Henri Zongo and two unnamed conspirators were quickly arrested and summarily executed once the reported plot was discovered.