Navy Probes FG Company MD, Raids Former Minister Timipre Sylva’s Residence Over Alleged Coup Plot Funding

Navy authorities investigating an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu have detained a managing director of a federal authorities company within the South-South area over suspected hyperlinks to the financing of the plan.

Safety sources informed TheCable that the MD allegedly transferred a “large sum of cash” to Timipre Sylva, a former minister of state for petroleum assets and ex-governor of Bayelsa state, who has been named in intelligence studies as one of many financiers of the failed coup try.

“The MD transferred a big sum to Sylva. Investigators consider the funds had been linked to the coup plot. He’s presently being questioned on the aim of that transaction,” a safety official stated.

Sylva’s Abuja residence was raided on Saturday by navy operatives. In the course of the operation, his youthful brother, Paga Sylva, who serves as his particular assistant on home affairs, and his driver had been arrested.

The previous minister, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was reportedly overseas on the time of the raid. Sources stated he had deliberate to return to Nigeria however modified his thoughts after studying that the alleged coup leaders had been apprehended.

“He was making ready to return residence when he heard concerning the arrests and determined to remain again,” one other supply added.

When contacted, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Markus Kangye, and Director of Defence Info, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, didn’t reply to calls looking for remark.

Earlier this month, Gusau confirmed that 16 officers had been detained for “breaches of navy laws and acts of indiscipline”, including that their grievances had been linked to profession stagnation from repeated promotion examination failures.

Nevertheless, SaharaReporters claimed the detained officers — starting from captain to brigadier-general — had been being held by the Defence Intelligence Company (DIA) for plotting to overthrow the Tinubu administration.

“The officers had been holding secret conferences to topple the federal government. The authorities are being diplomatic of their public statements,” the platform quoted a supply as saying.

The defence headquarters has but to subject an replace on the continued investigation.