REVEALED: Ma’aji, linked to failed coup plot, formerly security aide to Timipre Sylva

Fresh details have emerged about the ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to undermine Nigeria’s democracy, with Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji identified as a key suspect.

According to reports, Ma’aji once served as a security adviser to former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, during the 2015 gubernatorial election.

Sources revealed that security operatives recently searched Sylva’s residences in Abuja as part of the investigation. However, his current whereabouts remain unknown, fueling speculation about the extent of his alleged involvement.

Reacting to the reports, Julius Bokoru, Sylva’s Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, dismissed claims linking his principal to the purported coup plot.

In a statement, Bokoru described Sylva as “an unrepentant and thoroughbred democrat” who has consistently supported President Bola Tinubu.

Ma’aji, who is said to be “very close” to Sylva, coordinated security for the former governor in the December 5, 2015 election.

Sylva, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 86,852 votes, losing to Seriake Dickson, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 134,998 votes.

He previously led Bayelsa state as a PDP governor between 2007 and 2012, with his first election cancelled in 2008 by a tribunal.

He won a fresh election and did one term before he was denied a second term ticket by the party, with Dickson preferred to him.

It is still unclear to investigators if Ma’aji was the mastermind of the foiled coup, but he is believed to have played a central role.

His major role, it was alleged, was to recruit junior officers.

But he is also accused of providing the funds and logistics, fuelling speculation that he might have been bankrolled by a politician or politicians with significant war chest.

Ma’aji served in the oil-rich Niger Delta region for years.

TheCable understands that he has refused to co-operate with investigators so far, preferring to keep mum on all the allegations.

Officers junior to him have made “significant statements” to the special investigative panel set up by the military authorities.

Forensics have been conducted on Ma’aji and his wife, with their Abuja house searched by the investigators.

A throve of information has reportedly been unearthed on the couple’s accounts and a number of landed property, military sources told TheCable.

WHO IS MOHAMMED MA’AJI?

Not much is known about the army officer from Niger state.

Ma’aji, born in 1976 to Nupe parents, was a member of regular course 47 of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

TheCable understands that he was commissioned in 2000 as a second lieutenant, rising through the ranks to become a colonel in 2017 after attending the Policy, Strategy and Leadership Course (PSLC) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau state.

Ma’aji served as commanding officer (CO) of the 19 Battalion in Okitipupa, Ondo state, before was posted to Koko, headquarters of Warri North LGA, Delta state, in 2017.

In January 2021, he became the CO of Delta Safe following a transfer from the Depot, Nigerian Army, in Zaria.

(TheCable)