FG sues Timipre Sylva, ex-military officers with treason, terrorism over alleged coup plot

The Federal Government has charged a total of six people, including Timipre Sylva, a former minister of state for petroleum resources, with a total of thirteen counts in a federal high court sitting in Abuja.

Among those who are being prosecuted along with Mr. Sylva are a retired major general, a retired naval captain, an active policeman inspector, and three other persons.

The individuals involved are Maj. Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd), Capt. (NN) Erasmus Victor (retd), Insp. Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani.

It is expected that the accused will appear in court for arraignment on Wednesday before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the federal high court, Abuja.

Sylva is said to be at large.

The indictment, which was brought forth by the Attorney-General of the Federation and sworn in by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, alleges various offences committed by the accused persons ranging from conspiracy to undermine the state, acts of terrorism, treason, withholding of security intelligence, to money laundering in connection with terrorism.

The fundamental accusation is that, in 2025, the accused persons conspired among themselves to overthrow the Nigerian government.

“Conspiracy by the accused persons to levy war against the state to overawe the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” is one of the various offences committed by the accused persons.

The prosecution further alleged that the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned treasonable act involving one Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others, but failed to alert authorities.

The charge states that they, “knowing that and was intended to commit treason, did not give the information thereof with all reasonable despatch to either the President or a Peace Officer.”

In a related count, the defendants were also accused of failing to take preventive steps, as they allegedly “did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence.”

Beyond treason, the Federal Government is prosecuting the defendants for terrorism-related offences under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The charge alleged that they “conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Particularly, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim and Zekeri Umoru are accused of participating in meetings tied to terrorist activities.

Prosecutors claim they acted “in a bid to further a political ideology which may seriously destabilize the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The charge also accuses the defendants of providing support for terrorism, alleging that they “knowingly and indirectly, rendered support” to facilitate acts of terror.

In addition, the prosecution alleged a deliberate suppression of intelligence, stating that the defendants “had information which would be of material assistance in preventing the commission of the act of terrorism, but failed to disclose the information to the relevant agency as soon as practicable.”

The case further traces financial transactions allegedly linked to terrorism financing, with multiple defendants accused of handling proceeds of unlawful activities.

Bukar Kashim Goni is alleged to have “indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N50,000,000 which forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: terrorism financing,” while Abdulkadir Sani allegedly retained N2 million from a similar source.

Zekeri Umoru, according to the charge, “without going through a financial institution, accepted a cash payment of the sum of N10million” and also retained an additional N8.8 million suspected to be proceeds of terrorism financing.

Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim was also accused of taking possession of N1 million linked to the same alleged scheme.

All financial-related counts were brought under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.