Coup Trial: Court Views Video of Plot to Switch Off Villa Electricity, Recruit Insiders to Capture Tinubu

Video Reveals Plan to Cut Villa Power

Fresh details surfaced in Abuja on Wednesday as a Federal High Court watched video evidence of an alleged plot to switch off electricity at the Presidential Villa to help overthrow President Bola Tinubu.

In the footage played before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, defendant Zekeri Umoru — a Julius Berger employee working in the Villa’s Maintenance Department — told investigators he was approached to recruit between 18 and 19 insiders. Soldiers, DSS operatives, Julius Berger staff. All people already working inside the seat of government.

Umoru named Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji as the alleged mastermind. According to his testimony, Ma’aji offered him money through Police Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim to make the recruitment happen.

N100 Million and a Threat of Bloodshed

Then things got strange. Umoru told the Special Investigative Panel that Inspector Ibrahim later asked Ma’aji for N100 million. The route in would be through an ambulance gate into the Villa. Ma’aji said no — N100 million was too much. But he still insisted he could get in, and Umoru quoted him as saying there would be “bloodshed” if it came to force.

Umoru said he warned against cutting the power. Shut off electricity at the Presidential Villa and every worker on duty gets detained and questioned, he told them. It would trigger an investigation instantly.

He denied having access to the Villa’s solar power plant, despite the allegation that sabotaging the electricity supply was central to the plan. Eventually, he said, the whole thing made him uncomfortable and he repeatedly tried to give the money back. Getting into the Presidential Villa, he said, “was no child’s play.”

Why didn’t he report it immediately? Umoru claimed Inspector Ibrahim told him to delete their messages and avoid contacting Ma’aji. There was an audit going on at their office, Ibrahim allegedly said.

Six Defendants, 13 Charges

The Federal Government, through the Attorney-General’s office, arraigned six defendants on a 13-count charge — case number FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026. The charges cover treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security intelligence, and money laundering tied to terrorism financing.

The accused: retired Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, retired Captain Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani. Former Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva is listed as being at large.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned to May 21 to continue the trial-within-trial, which is meant to determine whether the defendants gave their statements voluntarily.

Sources: Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, Legit.ng