Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji, described by investigators as the coordinator of the alleged plot to topple Nigeria’s
According to TheCable reporting on November 3, 2025, Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji, whom investigators regard as the coordinator of the alleged plot to topple Nigeria’s democracy, previously served as a security adviser to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timi Sylva, during the 2015 Bayelsa state gubernatorial election.
Ma’aji is described as being “very close” to Sylva, whose residences in Abuja have recently been searched by investigators. Sylva’s whereabouts remain unknown. His special assistant on media, Julius Bokoru, has denied links to the botched coup, describing the former minister as “an unrepentant and thoroughbred democrat.”
Ma’aji’s alleged major role was to recruit junior officers and provide the funds and logistics. The colonel, a 2017 graduate of NIPSS, has reportedly refused to cooperate, preferring to “keep mum” on all the allegations. However, officers junior to him have made “significant statements” to the military’s special investigative panel.
Forensics conducted on the colonel and his wife have reportedly unearthed a “throve of information” on their accounts and landed property.
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