FG slams treason, terrorism charge against Timipre Silver, coup plotters

21.4.2026
Former Bayelsa State governor Timipre Silver and other alleged coup plotters have been charged with treason and terrorism.
Mr. Silver is currently at large, but the others including retired Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd), Cap. (NN) Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (retd), Insp Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani will be arraigned before a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Wednesday.
The government, through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, will arraign them on 13 counts treason and terrorism before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
The charge sheet marked FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026 was filed on Monday by the director of public prosecutions of the federation, Rotimi Oyedepo.
The defendants were accused of offences ranging from treason and terrorism to failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
At the centre of the case is an allegation that the defendants conspired in 2025 to undermine the Nigerian state.
They were alleged to have conspired with one another to levy war against the state to overawe the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The offence is said to be punishable under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.
The prosecution further alleged that the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned treasonable act involving Col Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others but failed to alert authorities.
The charge stated that they “knowing that and intended to commit treason, did not give the information thereof with all reasonable dispatch to either the President or a Peace Officer”.
In another count, the defendants were accused of failing to take preventive steps, as they allegedly “did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence”.
Beyond treason, the government is prosecuting the defendants for terrorism-related offences under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The charge alleged that they “conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Particularly, Messrs Ibrahim and Umoru are accused of participating in meetings linked to terrorist activities.
The AGF alleged they acted “in a bid to further a political ideology which may seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The charge also accused the defendants of providing support for terrorism, alleging that they “knowingly and indirectly rendered support” to facilitate acts of terror.
The AGF alleged a deliberate suppression of intelligence, stating that the defendants “had information which would be of material assistance in preventing the commission of the act of terrorism but failed to disclose the information to the relevant agency as soon as practicable.” With NAN reports