BREAKING: FG files treason, terrorism charges against Sylva, retired officers, others over alleged coup plot

The Federal Government has filed a 13-count charge before a Federal High Court in Abuja against former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, and six others over their alleged involvement in a coup plot aimed at waging war against Nigeria and committing acts of terrorism.

Other defendants in the charge include Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Victor (retd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani. They are scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Sylva, who is also listed as a defendant, is said to be at large.

The charge, filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, accuses the defendants of offences ranging from treason and terrorism to failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.

At the centre of the case is an allegation that the defendants conspired in 2025 to undermine the Nigerian state. According to the charge, they “conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overawe the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” an offence punishable under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.

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 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, alleging 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 were 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,” and also “knowingly and indirectly, rendered support” to facilitate acts of terror.

The charge further alleges suppression of intelligence and links to terrorism financing. It states 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.” Bukar Kashim Goni is accused of retaining N50 million, Abdulkadir Sani N2 million, while Zekeri Umoru allegedly accepted N10 million in cash and retained an additional N8.8 million. Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim is also accused of taking possession of N1 million linked to the scheme, with all financial counts brought under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.