By Ayo Kehinde
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned no fewer than five aides and close associates of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
The aides were arraigned for allegedly failing to provide information that could have aided security agencies in locating and arresting Sylva, who has reportedly been in hiding since he was linked to the alleged plot against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The Federal Government had earlier filed a 13-count charge against the seven suspects following investigations by the DSS and the Nigerian military. The charges include treasonable felony, conspiracy to overthrow the government, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and other offences relating to national security.
Those standing trial include retired Major-General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, retired Navy Captain Victor Erasmus Ochegobia, serving Police Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, and Sylva, who is currently being tried in absentia before a Federal High Court in Abuja after allegedly evading arrest.
The other defendants are Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani, while some serving military officers allegedly connected to the plot are facing separate court-martial proceedings.
Security sources said Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State, has remained out of public view since April, when the other suspects were first arraigned.
A senior security official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to comment publicly on the matter, disclosed that the five aides became subjects of investigation after they allegedly failed to cooperate with investigators seeking information that could lead to Sylva’s arrest.
According to the source, investigators believe the aides deliberately withheld information and frustrated efforts by security agencies to apprehend the former minister.
“Their offence may even be more grievous than that of their principal because they have refused to disclose information that could assist investigators. They have failed to cooperate with investigators. That means they are also accomplices; they are collaborators in this undemocratic stance. They will have their day in court soon”, the source added.
The alleged coup plot has remained one of the country’s most sensitive national security cases, with authorities insisting that the suspects were involved in activities aimed at undermining Nigeria’s constitutional order and destabilising the democratically elected government.
As of the time of filing this report, neither Sylva nor his legal representatives had issued a public response to the latest development, while the DSS has yet to release an official statement on the arraignment of the five aides.
