The federal government has filed charges against some alleged coup conspirators accused of plotting to “wage a war” against President Bola Tinubu to topple his government.
The defendants, including retired military officers, are to be arraigned on 13 charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, Sahara Reporters reports.
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Timipre Silva, a former Governor of Bayelsa who served as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources during the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, was also named in seven of the 13 counts but is yet to be charged as a defendant.
Mr Sylvia is currently on the run, according to authorities. However, the former governor who investigators described as the major financier of the plot, denied the allegations in a press statement last year. He said at the time that he was abroad and would return to the country to clear his name. But he has yet to fulfil the promise.
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The defendants charged in the case include Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, a retired major-general; Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, a retired navy captain; Ahmed Ibrahim, a police inspector; and Zekeri Umoru, an electrician at the Presidential Villa.
The rest are Bukar Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani, a Zaria-based Islamic cleric.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that about 40 people including serving and ex military officers and civilians have been arrested in relation with the matter. Initially, 16 military officers were arrested in connection with the foiled coup. Fourteen of them are from the Army while the two others are from the Navy and Air Force.
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Serving officers alleged to be part of the conspiracy are expected to be court-martialled, while retired officers and civilians will be prosecuted in civilian courts.
The 13 charges range from treason, terrorism, failure to disclose information about the coup to the the authorities, money laundering and terrorism financing.
The charges signed by Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, for the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, alleged that the defendants “conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overawe the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” This charge was brought under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.
Another charge 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 the authorities.
It said the defendants “knowing that and were intended to commit treason, did not give the information thereof with all reasonable dispatch to either the President… or a Peace Officer.”
The 13 charges are reported in full here.
PREMIUM TIMES has extensively reported exclusively on the coup, which was initially denied by the Nigerian military, since the news filtered out last year.
In March, one of this newspaper’s series of reports on the alleged coup plot detailed an elaborate plot by suspected coup conspirators to storm Nigeria’s seat of power, seize the Presidential Villa, and capture President Bola Tinubu and other top officials
The suspects allegedly planned to overrun the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s most fortified political stronghold, and capture President Tinubu, along with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas were also to be captured and possibly eliminated.
READ ALSO: The 13 coup charges against retired army general, others in full
Background
Last year in October, PREMIUM TIMES reported that some military officers were arrested for plotting a coup to oust the elected government.
Apart from killing top officials including the President, the coupists also planned to arrest top military officers like Christopher Musa, the then Chief of Defence Staff (now Minister of Defence).
The plot, uncovered in late September 2025, culminated in the decision to cancel the Independence Day parade.
Military authorities initially refused to confirm the coup plot, saying the officers were arrested and detained for “indiscipline and breach of service regulations.”
In a statement issued on 4 October, the Defence Headquarters said preliminary findings suggested the officers’ grievances were linked to “career stagnation and failure in promotion examinations.”
After the failed coup attempt, President Tinubu sacked the service chiefs, retaining only Olufemi Oluyede and Emmanuel Undiandeye.
Mr Oluyede, who previously served as Chief of Army Staff, was elevated to Chief of Defence Staff, replacing Mr Musa, while Undiandeye remained in his role as Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Later, amid heightened tensions following claims by US President Donald Trump of a “Christian genocide,” Mr Musa was recalled and appointed Minister of Defence, replacing Muhammed Badaru, who stepped down citing health reasons.
On 26 January, the military finally admitted that there was a coup plot. It stated that indicted officers will be prosecuted.
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