The Department of State Service (DSS) has arraigned five associates of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Silva, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations that they concealed information about the whereabouts of their principal, who the agency said was implicated as a financier of an alleged aborted coup attempt against President Bola Tinubu.
Silva, a former Governor of Bayelsa State, has been declared wanted by the Federal Government, while some of his identified properties have been marked for forfeiture following allegations that he sponsored and masterminded the purported coup plot.
The five associates — Reuben Ayuba, Musa Mohammed, Friday Paul, Paganengigha Anagaha and Ayebaifife Suobite — were brought before Justice Peter Lifu on Wednesday and charged with allegedly concealing the whereabouts of Silva, who the DSS described as a fugitive of the law.
A two-count charge filed against them indicated that the accused persons, on April 28, 2026, became accessories after the fact of felony by concealing the whereabouts of Timiprey Silva, said to be a fugitive of the law.
The alleged offence is said to be contrary to Section 519 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
