By Politics Nigeria
In a shocking twist that has sent ripples through Nigeria’s political and security circles, armed soldiers in the early hours of Tuesday raided the Abuja residence of former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, over alleged links to a suspected coup plot currently under investigation by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
According to multiple credible security sources, the operation was executed by a crack team of military operatives who stormed Sylva’s opulent Maitama mansion around 2 a.m., acting on what was described as “high-level intelligence” connecting the former governor to a web of secret meetings with some detained military officers accused of plotting to destabilize the government.
Sources familiar with the operation told Politics Nigeria that the raid did not end in Abuja. Soldiers reportedly extended their mission to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where Sylva’s family residence was also searched and his younger brother, identified as Paga Sylva, was arrested and whisked away for questioning.
> “The special forces team ransacked the home of Chief Timipre Sylva, who is believed to have fled Nigeria after being mentioned repeatedly in the course of the ongoing probe,” a top security source disclosed. “His brother, Paga, was picked up during the raid for further interrogation.”
Although the military is yet to issue an official statement, insiders confirmed that the raid was far from random, describing it as part of a coordinated nationwide crackdown on alleged conspirators with ties to both political and retired military networks.
The operation comes amid escalating tension within the Armed Forces following revelations that at least 16 senior officers from the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been detained by the DIA for allegedly being part of the plot. The officers, sources said, have been held incommunicado for over three weeks in an undisclosed facility in Abuja.
One family member of a detained officer expressed distress, saying:
> “It’s been 18 days since they picked up our brother. We thought he had been kidnapped until a friend from the NSA’s office quietly told us what was going on. We are in shock.”
Security analysts, however, have begun to question the motive and scope of the investigation, arguing that the DIA’s involvement suggests something deeper than a military disciplinary case.
> “Ordinarily, such cases are handled within the respective service branches. The fact that the DIA is taking the lead, and that only 16 officers are being targeted, makes this look political,” a retired senior officer told Politics Nigeria. “There’s clearly more going on behind the scenes than the public is being told.”
The alleged coup plot, analysts believe, may have political undertones reaching into the remnants of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Sylva, a long-time ally of the late former president, served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023 and was the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 2023 Bayelsa election, which he lost to incumbent Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
As of press time, both the Nigerian Army and Defence Headquarters have maintained a deafening silence on the operation, while the whereabouts of Chief Timipre Sylva remain unknown.
Security watchers warn that the unfolding drama could mark the beginning of a major political and institutional shake-up in Nigeria’s power corridors — one that may expose the hidden fault lines between the country’s military establishment and its political elite.
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