Nigeria charges six individuals with treason over alleged Independence Day coup plot
via The Namibian5 min read
Six people in Nigeria, including a retired major general and a serving police inspector, have been charged with treason for allegedly attempting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu in a coup last year. The charges, filed by the Attorney General at the Federal High Court in Abuja, also include terrorism and money laundering. A seventh person, former governor and one-time oil minister Timipre Sylva, was named in court documents but is reportedly still at large. Rumors of the coup plot first emerged in October 2025 when the government cancelled the 65th Independence Anniversary military parade, citing security threats. The military initially denied a coup suggestion but later announced in January that 16 officers would be tried by a military court for attempting to oust the president. It is unclear if the current charges are in addition to the military prosecutions. Sylva, who served as petroleum minister from 2019 to 2023 and governor of Bayelsa state from 2007 to 2012, denied links to a coup plot after his house was searched last October. An arrest warrant was issued for him the following month in a separate anti-corruption case, with his spokesman stating he was in the UK for a medical check-up and that the allegations were politically motivated. The six defendants, who have not yet commented, are accused of conspiring to levy war against the state to overpower the president. Prosecutors also allege they had prior knowledge of a treasonable act led by Col Mohammed Alhassan Ma’
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by The Namibian.
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