The Department of State Services arraigned five associates of former Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, over allegations they concealed information about his whereabouts.
The defendants, Reuben Ayuba, Musa Mohammed, Friday Paul, Paganengigha Anagaha and Ayebaifie Suobite, appeared before Justice Peter Lifu on a two-count charge. The DSS alleges that on April 28, 2026, the five became accessories after the fact by concealing the whereabouts of Sylva, whom the prosecution described in court as a fugitive, an offence under Section 519 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. They also face a separate charge of conspiring to commit a felony by concealing his whereabouts, contrary to Section 516 of the same Act.
All five pleaded not guilty. DSS counsel Emmanuel Orubor asked the court to fix a trial date, while lawyers for each defendant made separate bail applications. Senior Advocate of Nigeria Sanusi Musa appeared for the first and fourth defendants, Ayuba and Anagaha, urging the court to grant them bail. Similar applications followed from Ibrahim Imadegbelo for Mohammed, I. G. Kelubia for Paul, and E. C. Sogo for Suobite.
The defence lawyers told the court their clients had already spent months in DSS custody, since October 25, 2025, and asked Justice Lifu to grant bail on liberal terms given that lengthy detention.
Justice Lifu granted bail to each defendant in the sum of ₦5 million, with two sureties in like sum apiece. He set out specific conditions for the sureties, each must depose to an affidavit of means, provide evidence of three years’ tax payment, show proof of a verifiable source of livelihood, and submit recent passport photographs. The judge also directed the court registrar to verify the sureties’ identities before the bail can take effect.
Until those conditions are met, the five defendants remain remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
