Breaking: FG Files Treason Charges Against Alleged Coup Plotters, Arraignment Set for April 22

The Federal Government has charged a retired Major General, a retired Naval Captain, a serving police inspector, and three other people with 13 counts of plotting a coup and committing acts of terrorism.

The people who are accused of plotting a coup will go to court tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22) in Abuja, where Justice Joyce Abdulmalik will hear their case.

The people who are being charged are Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (rtd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (rtd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani.

Timipre Sylva, the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, is also named as a defendant but is said to be on the run.

The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation filed the charge, which was signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN. It says that the defendants committed crimes that include treason, terrorism, failing to share security intelligence, and money laundering related to financing terrorism.

The main point of the case is that the defendants planned in 2025 to hurt the Nigerian state.

The charge says they “conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overawe the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” This is a crime under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.

The prosecution also said that the defendants knew about a planned act of treason involving Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others but did not tell the police.

The charge said that they “knew that and intended to commit treason” but “did not give the information thereof with all reasonable despatch to either the President or a Peace Officer.”

The defendants were also charged with not taking steps to stop the crime from happening because they “did not use any reasonable efforts to prevent the commission of the offence.”

The defendants are also being charged with terrorism-related crimes under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, in addition to treason.

The charge said that they “planned together to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Specifically, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim and Zekeri Umoru are accused of going to meetings that were connected to terrorist activities.

Prosecutors say they did it “in a bid to further a political ideology that could seriously destabilize the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The charge also said that the defendants helped terrorists by “knowingly and indirectly rendering support” to make acts of terror easier.

The prosecution also said that the defendants “had information that would have been very helpful in stopping the act of terrorism but failed to give it to the right agency as soon as possible.”

The case also looked into financial transactions that were thought to be connected to financing terrorism, with several defendants accused of handling money from illegal activities.
According to reports, Bukar Kashim Goni “indirectly retained the total amount of N50,000,000, which is part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, namely terrorism financing,” while Abdulkadir Sani allegedly kept N2 million from the same source.

According to the charge, Zekeri Umoru “accepted a cash payment of the sum of N10,000,000 without going through a financial institution.” He also kept an extra N8.8 million that is thought to have come from terrorism financing.

There were also claims that Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim took N1 million that was connected to the same alleged scheme.

The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, covered all the counts that had to do with money.

The 13-count charge describes what prosecutors call a coordinated network of security personnel, civilians, and a politically exposed person who are allegedly involved in activities that threaten national security.