Ex-Bayelsa Gov Timipre Sylva
By Douglas Greene
The Abuja residence of former Bayelsa Governor and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has been raided by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The action of the secretive security personnel is said to be in connection with an alleged coup plot currently under investigation by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Sources familiar with the incident said that the raid occurred at Sylva’s home in the Maitama area of Abuja.
A special team carried out the operation after intelligence allegedly linked Sylva to secret meetings held with some of the detained military officers.
“The DSS special team ransacked the home of Timipre Sylva, who is believed to have fled Nigeria.
“He is the South-South former governor frequently mentioned in the case. His brother, named Paga, was picked up during the raid. The operation also extended to his Bayelsa residence,” a source said.
One source confirmed that while no official statement had been issued regarding the raid, the action was “not random” but “a direct response to intelligence linking certain political figures to the alleged plotters.”
This development comes amid growing tension within the armed forces following an earlier report that at least 16 senior military officers had been detained incommunicado by the DIA over the alleged coup plot.
The detained officers, drawn from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, have been held for over three weeks in an undisclosed Abuja facility under what sources described as “unusual and suspicious conditions.”
Family members said that they initially thought that their relatives had been kidnapped, as there was no official communication from the military regarding their arrests.
“It’s been 18 days since those 16 officers were detained in an undisclosed location.
“At first, we thought our brother was kidnapped before finding out what transpired from his friend who works in the NSA office,” a family member had said.
Security analysts have questioned why the DIA, an intelligence agency under the Ministry of Defence, is spearheading the investigation.
They said that each military service should have been allowed to handle its personnel internally, because the current course of action is “highly political.”
“If the military were truly conducting a disciplinary operation, over 10,000 cases could emerge.
“Why only 16 officers, and why hand them to the DIA? one retired officer asked.
“This smells of politics. There’s clearly more going on behind the scenes,” they argued.
The alleged plot and subsequent arrests may have deeper political undertones, potentially involving some former office holders with ties to late ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State and a close ally of the late President Buhari, served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources between 2019 and 2023.
He was also the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 2023 Bayelsa election.
He, however, lost to incumbent Governor Douye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
