The Federal Government of Nigeria has on Tuesday filed a 13-count charge before the Federal High Court in Abuja against six individuals, including two retired senior military officers and a serving police inspector, over the alleged plot to wage war against Nigeria and commit acts of terrorism.
The defendants included retired Major General Mohammed Gana, retired Naval Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani and they are scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 22, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
A former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, was also listed, but declared to be at large.
According to local media reports on Tuesday, the charge was filed on Monday by Nigeria’s Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) and accused the defendants of offences ranging from treason and terrorism to failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants conspired in 2025 “to levy war against the state to overpower the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” an offence punishable under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.
The Federal Government further alleged that the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned treasonable act involving one Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others but failed to alert the authorities.
According to the charge, the defendants, “knowing that a treasonable act was intended to be committed, did not give information thereof with all reasonable despatch to either the President… or a peace officer.”
They were also accused of failing to take preventive steps, as the charge stated that they “did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence.”
Beyond treason, the defendants are facing terrorism-related charges under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. Prosecutors alleged that they “conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim and Zekeri Umoru were specifically accused of attending meetings linked to the alleged plot, “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.
In addition, the prosecution alleged 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.”
On the financial aspect, several defendants were accused of handling funds linked to terrorism financing, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Bukar Kashim Goni allegedly “indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N50,000,000, which forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: terrorism financing,” while Abdulkadir Sani allegedly retained N2m from a similar source.
Zekeri Umoru, according to the charge, “without going through a financial institution accepted a cash payment of the sum of N10,000,000,” and also retained an additional N8.8m suspected to be proceeds of terrorism financing.
Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim was also accused of taking possession of “the sum of N1,000,000, being part of proceeds of terrorism financing.”
According to the report, the case is expected to test the Nigerian Government’s resolve to prosecute the alleged threats to national security as proceedings commence before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
It will be recalled that on October 31, 2025, the Nigerian authorities confirmed that 16 military officers had been arrested in the first week of October over the alleged coup plot, while two others were declared at large.
In January 2026, the Defence Headquarters confirmed that there was indeed a plan to overthrow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while the Director of Defence Information, Samaila Uba, said that investigations carried out in line with military procedures uncovered the involvement of some personnel in the alleged coup plot.
Uba added that those implicated would be arraigned before appropriate military judicial panels.
GIK/APA