Nigeria: General and minister charged in connection with failed coup attempt against president
The 13 charges against the defendants include high treason.
Written by: Mohammed Salem
The Nigerian government has charged a retired army general and others over an alleged failed coup attempt against the country's president, Bola Tinubu.
The 13 charges against the defendants include high treason, terrorism, failure to inform security intelligence agencies about the coup plot, money laundering, and financing terrorism.
The Nigerian federal government has filed lawsuits against some of the alleged coup plotters, who have been accused of plotting to wage war against President Bola Tinubu to overthrow his government.
Charges against retired military officers
The Sahara Reporters newspaper stated that the accused, including retired military officers, will appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday on charges of committing 13 crimes.
Timbre Silva, the former governor of Bayelsa State who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources during the rule of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, was also charged.
The other defendants are Mohammed Ibrahim Ghana, a retired brigadier general; Erasmus Oshegobia Victor, a retired naval captain; and Ahmed Ibrahim, a police inspector. The remaining defendants are Zakiri Omoro, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani.
The 13 charges range from high treason and terrorism to failure to report the coup plot to the security intelligence service, money laundering, and financing terrorism.
The indictment, signed by the Director of the Federal Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo, a senior lawyer in Nigeria, on behalf of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, alleged that the accused “conspired with each other to wage war against the state to intimidate the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”.
This charge was brought under Article 37(2) of the Penal Code. It alleges that the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned act of treason involving Colonel Mohamed El Hassan Maaji and others, but failed to alert the authorities.
The statement said that the defendants, “knowing this and intending to commit treason, did not provide the relevant information with reasonable speed to the President… or to a peace officer.”.
Planning to storm the presidential palace in Abuja
The Premium Times published lengthy reports about the coup, which the Nigerian army initially denied, since the news leaked.
The names of some active-duty military personnel suspected of orchestrating the coup were not included in the indictment recently filed with the Federal Supreme Court. It remains unclear whether they will be tried before the military tribunal overseen by the army.
The suspects allegedly planned to storm the presidential palace in Abuja, Nigeria’s most heavily fortified political stronghold, and capture President Tinubu, along with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
