On Wednesday, the federal government charged five people with being the brains behind a plot to remove President Bola Tinubu’s government through a coup d’état.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja docked the defendants before their trial.
After they said they were not guilty of the crime, the court ordered that they be held in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who was in court to personally handle the matter, asked for the remand order.
The court was set to start a full hearing of the matter on Monday, though.
Before the case was put on hold, the defense lawyers, led by Mohammed Ndayako, SAN, asked the court to tell the DSS to let them see their clients.
They added that this kind of access would help them be ready to defend their clients, who have been in jail since they were detained.
Timipre Sylva, who used to be the governor of Bayelsa State and was also the minister of state for petroleum resources under the late former president Muhammadu Buhari, is one of the people named as a defendant in the 13-count treason case FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026.
The former governor, who is thought to be on the run after leaving the country before the alleged coup plot was made public, was charged in absentia.
The other people charged 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 charges against the accused are almost treason, terrorism, not sharing security information, and money laundering to support terrorism.
The FG says that the defendants planned to go to war with the state in September 2025 to scare President Tinubu, which is against the law under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.
People said that the defendants knew about a planned act of treason involving Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others but didn’t tell the right people about it.
The FG said they helped Colonel Ma’aji because they wouldn’t tell either the president or a peace officer about the coup plot.
The defendants were also charged of not taking steps to stop the crime because they “did not use any reasonable efforts to prevent the commission of the offence.”
Other accusations against them were based on terrorism-related crimes under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
It was stated that they had worked together to plan a terrorist attack in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Specifically, Ibrahim, a police inspector, and Umoru, another defendant, were accused of going to meetings that were connected to terrorist activity.
The FG said 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 also accused of helping terrorists.
The prosecution told the court that they deliberately and indirectly helped make acts of terror easier.
The FG said that one of the defendants, Goni, “indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N50,000,000, which forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: terrorism financing,” and that another defendant, Sani, allegedly retained N2 million from a similar source.
The accusation further said that Umoru had taken a cash payment of N10,000,000 without going through a bank.
It was said that he also kept an extra N8.8 million that was thought to be money from terrorism financing.
People further said that Inspector Ibrahim took N1 million that was connected to the same alleged plot.
The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, was used to bring all of the financial-related counts in the accusation.
Some of the charges say: “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 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 despatch 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 Honourable Court, knowing that Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji (N/10668) and others intended to commit treason, did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence 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 Honourable Court, conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the 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, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim (AP776373) and Zekeri Umoru, knowingly took part in meetings connected to an act of terrorism in Abuja in 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, in order to promote a political ideology that could seriously destabilize the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is a crime under Sections 2(3)(d) and 12(a) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
That you, Bukar Kashim Goni, in September 2025, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable 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 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 18(3) of the same Act.
You, Zekeri Umoru, took a cash payment of N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) from Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji in Abuja in September 2025 without going through a bank. This was against Sections 2(1)(a) and 19(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and it is punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.
That you, Zekeri Umoru, in September 2025, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N8,800,000.00 (eight million, eight hundred thousand Naira) only in your Zenith Bank Plc account number 2006041878, 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 18(3) of the same Act.
“That you, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, in September 2025, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, directly took possession of the sum of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira) only from Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji (N/10668), 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 18(3) of the same Act.”
On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Department of State Services to hold six defendants in jail after they were charged with 13 counts of terrorism-related crimes.
The sitting started around 1:46 p.m. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), told the court that the charge was ready and asked for permission to read it to the defendants.
The third defendant told the court that his lawyer was sick, which briefly stopped the proceedings. The sixth defendant’s lawyer indicated that his client only spoke Arabic and Hausa, so the court had to stop the case to find an interpreter.
When the court met again at 2:18 p.m., all six defendants entered their pleas and disputed the charges, saying they were not guilty of the 13 counts.
After the arraignment, the prosecution asked for their remand in DSS custody and asked the court to hold a faster hearing of the case. Most defense lawyers did not contest this request, but the first defendant’s lawyer said they will file a bail application.
The trial court ruled that the hearing should be moved up, that the defendants should be held in DSS custody with access to their counsel, and that the trial should start on April 27, 2026.
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