The Nigerian Army has refused to comment on reports claiming that its personnel raided the Abuja residence of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and ex-Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva.
According to an exclusive report by SaharaReporters, the alleged operation took place on Tuesday at Sylva’s Maitama home and was purportedly connected to an ongoing Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) investigation into a suspected coup plot involving several detained senior military officers.
When contacted by THE WHISTLER, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Lt Col Appolonia Anele, directed all media inquiries to the Defence Headquarters.
"Who issued the first statement on the coup? It was from the Defence Headquarters, not the Army. If there is a developing story, further inquiries should be directed to the Defence Headquarters," Anele said.
Pressed further on whether soldiers were involved in the alleged raid, she declined to provide details, maintaining that "the Defence Headquarters should be contacted on this issue."
SaharaReporters had alleged that a "special military team" carried out the operation following intelligence reports linking Sylva to secret meetings with some of the detained officers.
The report further claimed that the ex-governor’s brother, identified as Paga, was arrested during the raid, which allegedly extended to Sylva’s Bayelsa residence.
A security source cited by the platform described the operation as "a direct response to intelligence linking certain political figures to the alleged plotters," insisting it was "not random."
The reported development comes amid heightened tension within the military following revelations that at least 16 senior officers from the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been detained by the DIA for over three weeks in connection with the alleged coup plot.
Family members of some of the detained officers told SaharaReporters they initially thought their relatives had been kidnapped before discovering that they were being held in DIA custody.
"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," one family member was quoted as saying.
As of press time, the Defence Headquarters had not issued any official statement regarding the alleged raid or the ongoing investigation into the purported coup attempt.
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