The Federal Government, on Wednesday, arraigned five of the alleged masterminds of a plot to overthrow the administration of President Bola Tinubu through a coup d’état.
The defendants were docked before trial by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Following their plea of innocence to the charge, the court ordered that they should be remanded in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The remand order followed an application by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who was in court to personally handle the case.
Meanwhile, the court slated Monday to commence a full-blown hearing of the case.
Before the matter was adjourned, the defence lawyers, led by Mohammed Ndayako, SAN, prayed the court to order the DSS to grant them access to their clients.
They said such access would enable them to effectively prepare the defence of their clients who have been in detention since they were arrested.
Among those listed as defendants in a 13-count treason charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026 is the erstwhile governor of Bayelsa State—who also served as minister of state for petroleum resources under the late former president Muhammadu Buhari—Timipre Sylva.
The former governor, who is said to be currently at large after escaping from the country before the alleged coup plot was leaked, was arraigned in absentia.
The other defendants in the charge are retired Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, retired Naval Captain Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, serving Police Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, and three others—Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani.
The allegations against the defendants border on treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security intelligence, and funds laundered in furtherance of acts of terrorism.
According to the FG, the defendants, sometime in September 2025, conspired among themselves to levy war against the state to overawe President Tinubu, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.
It was 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 appropriate authorities.
The FG maintained that they rendered assistance to Colonel Ma’aji, as evidenced by their refusal to disclose the coup plot to either the president or a peace officer.
Moreover, the defendants were accused of failing to take preventive steps, as they “did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence”.
Other allegations against them centred on terrorism-related offences under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
They were said to have conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Specifically, the serving police inspector, Ibrahim, and another defendant, Umoru, were accused of participating in meetings linked to terrorist activities.
The FG alleged that they acted “in a bid to further a political ideology which may seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The defendants were further accused of providing support for terrorism.