FG files treason charge against ex-minister Sylva, former general, others

The Federal Government has filed a 13-count charge before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja against former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, a retired Major General, a retired Naval Captain, a serving police inspector and three others over their alleged involvement as coup plotters in a plot to wage war against Nigeria and commit acts of terrorism. The other defendants, Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Victor (retd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani, are scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the court.

Sylva 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 heart 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 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.”