The Federal Government has charged six people with 13 counts in the Federal High Court in Abuja. These people include two retired senior military officers and a police officer who is still on duty. They are accused of being part of a plot to wage war against Nigeria and commit acts of terrorism.
Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd), Captain (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (retd), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani are all named in the charge.
On Wednesday, April 22, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja will hear the case against the defendants.
Timipre Sylva, who used to be the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, is also named in the charge 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, Rotimi Oyedepo. It says that the defendants committed crimes that range from treason and terrorism to failing to share security intelligence and money laundering.
The main point of the case is that the defendants planned together in 2025 to bring down the Nigerian government.
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 didn’t tell the authorities.
The charge said that they “did not give the information to the President or a Peace Officer with all reasonable speed, knowing that it was intended to commit treason.”
They were also accused of not doing anything to stop it from happening.
The charge went on to say, “They did not make any reasonable efforts to stop the crime from happening.”
The defendants are also being charged with terrorism under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The Federal Government said that they “planned together to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim and Zekeri Umoru were accused of going to meetings that were connected to terrorist activities.
Prosecutors said they did this “in order to promote a political ideology that could seriously threaten the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The charge also said that the defendants helped terrorists in some way. It said that they “knowingly and indirectly” helped make terror acts happen.
The prosecution also said that the defendants hid important information that could have stopped the acts from happening.
₦50 million and other money linked to terrorism financing
The case also includes claims of money laundering that are connected to financing terrorism.
It was said that Bukar Kashim Goni “indirectly kept the total amount of ₦50,000,000, which is part of the money made from an illegal act, namely terrorism financing.”
People said that Abdulkadir Sani kept ₦2 million from the same source.
It was said that Zekeri Umoru “accepted a cash payment of ₦10,000,000 without going through a bank,” and he also kept N8.8 million that was thought to be money used to fund terrorism.
There were also claims that Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim took ₦1 million that was connected to the supposed scheme.
The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, was used to bring all of the financial charges.
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