{"id":99527,"date":"2026-07-02T11:50:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99527"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:50:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:50:39","slug":"dss-arraigns-five-associates-of-timipre-sylva-over-alleged-concealment-of-ex-ministers-whereabouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99527","title":{"rendered":"DSS Arraigns Five Associates of Timipre Sylva Over Alleged Concealment of Ex-Minister’s Whereabouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday arraigned five associates of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of concealing his whereabouts.<\/p>\n

The defendants, identified as Reuben Ayuba, Musa Mohammed, Friday Paul, Paganengigha Anagaha and Ayebaifife Suobite, were brought before Justice Peter Lifu on a two-count charge bordering on allegedly concealing the whereabouts of Sylva, whom the prosecution described as a fugitive.<\/p>\n

According to the DSS, the alleged offences were committed on or about April 28, 2026, in Abuja. The prosecution further alleged that the defendants became accessories after the fact of a felony by concealing Sylva’s whereabouts, an offence said to be contrary to Section 519 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004.<\/p>\n

The agency also charged the five defendants with conspiracy to commit a felony by allegedly concealing the whereabouts of Sylva, contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, LFN, 2004.<\/p>\n

The charges arise amid ongoing investigations into an alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu. The prosecution alleges that Sylva is implicated in the matter and has been declared wanted by the Federal Government. It further claims that some of his identified properties have been marked for forfeiture. These allegations have not been determined by the court.<\/p>\n

When the charges were read, all five defendants pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

Following their plea, counsel to the DSS, Emmanuel Orubor, urged the court to fix a date for the commencement of trial, indicating that the prosecution was prepared to call witnesses.<\/p>\n

Counsel to the defendants separately applied for bail. Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Sunusi Musa, represented the first and fourth defendants, Reuben Ayuba and Paganengigha Anagaha. Ibrahim Imadegbelo appeared for the second defendant, Musa Mohammed; I.G. Kelubia represented the third defendant, Friday Paul; while E.C. Sogo appeared for the fifth defendant, Ayebaifife Suobite.<\/p>\n

The defence lawyers informed the court that their clients had remained in custody since October 25, 2025, and urged the court to admit them to bail on liberal terms.<\/p>\n

In a brief ruling, Justice Lifu granted each defendant bail in the sum of N5 million with two sureties in like sum.<\/p>\n

The court directed that each surety must swear to an affidavit of means, provide evidence of three years’ tax payment, show proof of a verifiable means of livelihood, and submit recent passport photographs. Justice Lifu further ordered that the identities of the sureties be verified by the court registrar.<\/p>\n

Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre.<\/p>\n

The matter was adjourned until July 22, 2026, for the commencement of trial.<\/p>\n

According to the charge, the defendants are accused of becoming accessories after the fact by allegedly concealing the whereabouts of Timipre Sylva, described by the prosecution as a fugitive, contrary to Section 519 of the Criminal Code Act. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit the alleged offence, contrary to Section 516 of the same Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday arraigned five associates of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of concealing his whereabouts. The defendants, identified as Reuben Ayuba, Musa Mohammed, Friday Paul, Paganengigha Anagaha and Ayebaifife Suobite, were brought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[8483,3168,169,219],"class_list":["post-99527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-concealment","tag-coup","tag-dss","tag-sylva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99528,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99527\/revisions\/99528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}