Sylva’s Brother, Driver Still Detained Over Coup Allegations

Two persons arrested during a military raid on the Abuja residence of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, remain in custody more than a week after the operation.

The detainees — identified as Sylva’s younger brother, Paga, who serves as his Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, and his driver — were picked up on October 25, 2025, when security operatives stormed the former minister’s home in the Federal Capital Territory.

Sylva, a former Bayelsa State governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was reportedly out of the country at the time of the raid.

Sources said he suspended his planned return to Nigeria after learning of the arrests linked to an alleged coup plot involving some senior military officers.

His Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, who confirmed the continued detention of the two aides on Sunday, said they had not been released as of Saturday night.
“Not that I know of. As of last night, they had not been released.

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I would have known if they were released,” Bokoru told The Nation.

He added that lawyers were already handling the matter, maintaining that nothing incriminating was found at Sylva’s residence.

Bokoru had earlier described the raid as unwarranted, accusing some political figures of sponsoring smear campaigns against his principal out of fear of his political influence.

The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, had earlier confirmed that 16 officers were being detained over alleged breaches of military regulations and acts of indiscipline.

However, reports claimed the officers, whose ranks range from Captain to Brigadier-General, were being held by the Defence Intelligence Agency for alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the government.

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Meanwhile, Niger Delta stakeholders, including former agitators, have cautioned against what they termed a smear campaign targeted at the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku — a former aide to Sylva.

The group, under the aegis of the Critical Ex-Agitators Stakeholders Coalition, made the call after an emergency meeting in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

Speaking after the meeting, the group’s spokesman, Nature Kieghe, urged leaders and traditional rulers in the region to rally round Ogbuku, describing him as a reform-minded administrator transforming the commission.

Kieghe said Ogbuku had initiated a needs-based project assessment model to ensure that NDDC’s interventions directly benefited host communities.

He listed the Light Up Niger Delta initiative, the completion of 311 projects across the nine Niger Delta states, and the revival of the NDDC scholarship and youth empowerment schemes among the commission’s recent achievements.
“This is the first time in the history of the NDDC that almost every state has a befitting office complex.

We must rally round this man and support him,” Kieghe said.

He also praised President Bola Tinubu for supporting Ogbuku’s administration and urged continued backing to sustain the commission’s progress.