•Tinubu and soldiers
The federal government is set to try seven of the detained suspects linked to an alleged plot to overthrow the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for concealment of treason, terrorism and money laundering.
The suspects are former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timpre Sylva; Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (rtd); a retired Navy Captain, Erasmus Ochegobia Victor and Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim. Others are Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
A 13-count charge was filed against them yesterday, reports Daily Trust.
It was gathered that six of the alleged coup plotters, who were investigated by both the Nigerian military and the Department of State Services, were accused of terrorising the citizens, and plotting to sack a democratic government.
The charges filed against them border on treasonable felony, conspiracy to overthrow the government, conspiracy to commit terrorism and other offences related to security threats.
The military high command, through its former Director, Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, had on October 4, 2025, revealed that 16 officers were arrested and detained over undisclosed offences.
Gusau, a retired Brigadier-General, had simply said they were arrested and detained over issues that border on “indiscipline and breach of service regulations”.
The retired senior military officer also said, “Investigations have revealed that their grievances stemmed largely from perceived career stagnation caused by repeated failure in promotion examinations, among other issues.”
However, several weeks after the denial, reports uncovered that those detained were allegedly involved in a plot to overthrow the present government led by Tinubu.
It was also uncovered that the detainees were attached to the Office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Suspects charged after 6 months
Amid outcry by the family members of the detainees, the process to arraign seven of them, already charged before a Federal High Court in Abuja, has commenced.
The families of the detained officers had protested at the National Assembly on Wednesday, April 1, demanding that justice be served. The protesters, comprising children, wives and relatives of the detainees, sought a speedy trial of the accused officials.
The wife of one of the detainees, who gave her name simply as Nana, said they were calling for fairness in their trial.
“We are here to plead with the government to please charge our husbands to court. We are not saying they should just be released like that. Necessary action should be done. But since the government said it has evidence against them, they should be charged to court. This is because they are innocent until proven guilty. If there is any evidence, let there be an open and free trial, please,” she said.
In the suit filed on behalf of the federal government by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the seventh person, former Governor Sylva, is said to be on the run. He is being tried in absentia.
Sources confided in our correspondent last night that the government has activated the International Police (INTERPOL) to go after the former Bayelsa governor and extradite him back to Nigeria to face the full wrath of law.
The charges read, “That you, Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (rtd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (rtd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim (Ap776373), Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, Abdulkadir Sani, Timpre Sylva (still at large) and others, sometime in the year 2025, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overtake the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 37(2) of the code cap 38 LFN 2004.
“That you, Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (Rtd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (rtd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim (Ap776373), Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, Abdulkadir Sani, Timpre Sylva (still at large) and others, sometime in the year 2025, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowing that Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji (N/10668) and others intended to commit treason, did not give the information thereof with all reasonable dispatch to either the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, or a Peace Officer and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40(b) of the Criminal Code Cap C38 LFN 2004”.
“That you Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (rtd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (rtd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim (Ap776373), Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni Abdulkadir Sani, Timipre Sylva (still at large) and others, sometime in the year 2025 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honorable court conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism against Federal Republic of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“That you, Abdulkadir Sani, on or about the 23rd day of September, 2025, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, indirectly retained the sum of N2,000,000.00 (Two Million Naira) only in your Jaiz Bank Account Number 0005620270 from A & A Express Link Concept, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: terrorism financing, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 1 8 (3) of the same Act.
“That you, Bukar Kashim Goni, in September, 2025, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira) only in your First Bank Account Number 3021511166 from A & A Express Link Concept, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of un unlawful act to wit: terrorism financing, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the same Act.
Why other detainees are yet to be charged – Officials
Giving an insight into why some of the detainees are still in detention, officials within the DSS and the military told Daily Trust that joint investigations are ongoing.
They submitted that they are yet to get to the root of the matter involving other detainees, saying they would also be charged when the investigation on them is concluded.
“Joint investigations are still ongoing. We can’t just charge the ones we have not finished investigating. We’ve concluded an investigation on those seven people we charged,” an official within the DSS explained.
When asked when they would conclude investigations, the source said he could not say because of the complexity of the matter.
He added, “This is an issue that borders on national security, so thorough investigations have to be conducted. It is important that the investigators take their time.”
Identities of those charged
Sylva, a holder of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), was born on July 7, 1964 in Brass, Bayelsa State (formerly Rivers State, from which Bayelsa was created in 1996). He had his education in Bayelsa and Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, he graduated from the University of Port Harcourt in 1986. He was a member of the Old Rivers State House of Assembly in the early 1990s and became governor of Bayelsa State in 2007.
He won a fresh governorship election in the state in May 2008 after an Appeal Court nullified his victory. However, his tenure was terminated in January 2012 by the Supreme Court, with an acting governor appointed to oversee the state until another election was held in February 2012.
Sylva served as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. He was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in November 2025 over alleged money laundering.
Retired Major-General Gana is from Niger State. He holds the traditional title; Danmagayaki of Nupe. Daily Trust gathered that his son is currently serving as a Colonel in the military and being held over his alleged involvement in the plot.
Also, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, who was arrested in the alleged coup plot is a serving officer of the Nigeria Police Force from Taraba State.
‘Suspects deserve fair hearing’
Reacting to the development, a human rights activist and former National Chairman of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said it is imperative that the federal government factors in the rights of those charged.
He “The charge of treason or treasonable felony, including conspiracy to commit the same offence are largely very weighty charges. You can do that with the punishment ascribed to those categories of offence – essentially, they are capital punishment. That will indicate the gravity of the offence.
“However, it is gratifying that the country has not condescended into extra-judicial activities like murder. The country has decided to subject the alleged criminal activities of the suspects to the crucible of trials, requiring that they be afforded a fair hearing, in particular.
“In the determination of rights of every Nigerian, whether an alleged criminal or an innocent person, such a person must be given fair hearing by a competent court of law, constituted in such a way as to guarantee its independence and impartiality.
“That is what Sections 36 and 46 are all about. So, if the government has decided to treat these people, recognising that their presumption of innocence still lies in their favour, that’s the right way to go in a civilized society.”
A notary public and former chairman of the NBA in Bauchi State, Jibrin S. Jibrin Esq, said there is nothing legally wrong with the arraignment of the coup suspects before the Federal High Court.
“One of the reasons for holding this view is that the offences with which they are alleged to have committed goes beyond mere military disobedience. It has to do with an attempt to topple and change the system of government known to law in the country.
“Another factor to consider as to why the Federal High Court is the most appropriate forum to try the coup suspects is the fact that the various decrees enacted under the General Babangida and Sani Abacha juntas under which persons suspected of plotting coup plot were tried have been abrogated or repealed by the extant grundnorm which is the 1999 Constitution.
“So looking at the circumstances and the nature of allegations involved, I hold the view that the federal government is right to have filed the charges against the suspects at the Federal High Court.”
