For years, Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram and its splinter groups has been framed as a grueling military struggle against an elusive enemy—one that melts into forests, villages, and borders, only to re-emerge with greater ferocity. But behind the scenes, a far more complex and disturbing story has been unfolding: a covert investigation into terrorism financing that, according to shocking testimony from a retired top military officer, touched the highest echelons of political power, security institutions, and financial authority. Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi (rtd), a once-celebrated commander who led the Nigerian Army’s 1 Division and served as a General Officer Commanding (GOC), has now broken his silence. What he revealed has sent tremors through Nigeria’s political and military landscape.
Ali-Keffi was not an ordinary officer. Known for his discipline, bluntness, and refusal to bow to political interests, he was appointed in 2021 to spearhead one of the most sensitive operations ever authorized by a Nigerian president: Operation Service Wide (OSW). The operation, unknown to the public until now, was personally approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari, with a mandate that many security experts have long said was overdue—to identify the local masterminds of Boko Haram, expose their financiers, and dismantle the financial arteries sustaining Nigeria’s most deadly terrorist networks. It was a mission that required absolute secrecy, full inter-agency cooperation, and freedom from political interference. Instead, according to Ali-Keffi’s account, it became the very reason he was detained, silenced, dismissed, and stripped of his career.
The early successes of OSW were remarkable and, perhaps, too revealing. Working closely with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the multi-agency task force quietly traced suspicious financial flows, followed the trails of bureau-de-change operators long suspected of moving funds for insurgent groups, identified cross-border laundering channels, and intercepted encrypted communications. In March 2021, the operation culminated in the dramatic arrest of several high-profile suspects. Many Nigerians had always suspected that Boko Haram’s ability to procure weapons, vehicles, drones, explosives, fuel, and food—while under intense military pressure—was due to deep-pocketed internal collaborators. But what OSW allegedly discovered was more alarming: according to Ali-Keffi, some of the arrested individuals were linked to powerful public officials and influential institutions at the very core of Nigeria’s security and political architecture.
Two of the suspects, he said, had ties to the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd). Two others were allegedly linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN). One suspect had connections to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele. Another was linked to General Faruk Yahaya, who later succeeded Buratai as Chief of Army Staff. Ali-Keffi emphasized repeatedly that he was not accusing any of these figures of terrorism financing. Rather, he stated that their names came up purely because of business relationships with suspects—particularly within the bureau-de-change sector, which investigators believed was often used as a cover for illicit terrorism-related transactions. But the timing of the revelations, the sensitivity of the connections, and the enormous political power of the individuals allegedly linked to the suspects created a political storm unlike anything Nigeria had ever seen in its counter-terrorism landscape.
The turning point came in September 2021. The findings of OSW were formally presented to President Buhari in a confidential briefing by the NFIU. Present at the meeting was the then-Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Faruk Yahaya, whose name, according to Ali-Keffi, was linked to one of the suspected financiers. In October, just weeks after the briefing, everything changed. Ali-Keffi was suddenly summoned to the Headquarters of Military Police on October 18, 2021—no explanation, no accusations, no warrant. He arrived willingly, expecting routine queries. Instead, he was interrogated for hours, detained, and subsequently held for 64 days. He was never charged, never tried, never formally accused of wrongdoing. After his release, he was compulsorily retired from service—again without explanation.
According to him, that detention was the beginning of the end for the investigation. The OSW, which had collected what he believed to be overwhelming evidence that would have led to prosecutions, asset seizures, and perhaps the biggest terrorism-financing scandal in Nigerian history, was quietly dismantled. The 20 top suspects who had been arrested and held for nine months were released without trial. Not a single individual was charged. Not a single public statement was issued. According to an insider who spoke with Ali-Keffi, the suspects were warned not to speak to the media or take legal action over their prolonged detention.
What made Ali-Keffi’s revelations even more explosive was his claim that the attempted obstruction of the investigation was deliberate, coordinated, and politically motivated. He insisted that, from the moment the names of powerful officials surfaced, pressure mounted to downgrade the charges from terrorism financing to money laundering. Money laundering cases fall under the jurisdiction of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which at the time was led by Abdulrasheed Bawa—a relative of then-Attorney-General Malami. Ali-Keffi believed that these moves were aimed at transferring the case away from OSW and burying it in bureaucracy until it disappeared. He also described how a top prosecution lawyer assisting OSW was abruptly removed by the AGF’s office because she refused to compromise her stance that terrorism-financing charges—not money laundering—were appropriate.
One of the most shocking revelations involved an international suspect, Aboubacar Hima, who was allegedly found to have an offshore account containing roughly $600 million. According to Ali-Keffi, the NFIU worked closely with U.S. intelligence agencies, leading to the funds being frozen abroad. But he said he later learned that someone acting on Hima’s behalf attempted to offer a staggering $50 million bribe for Nigeria to intervene and tell the U.S. that it “had no issues” with the funds. Ali-Keffi said he refused the offer. But after his detention, he was informed that the Nigerian government eventually wrote to U.S. authorities requesting that the account be unfrozen.
These revelations, if true, paint a deeply troubling picture: a government willing to compromise national security investigations to protect individuals with political connections. For Nigeria, a country that has suffered over 70,000 deaths from terrorism in the past decade, the implications are enormous. If the allegations are accurate, it would mean that some of the very people tasked with safeguarding the nation were indirectly connected—through business or influence—to individuals suspected of aiding terror groups.
Perhaps the most dramatic revelation came when Ali-Keffi disclosed that OSW had compiled a target list of more than 400 individuals believed to be linked to Boko Haram financing, logistics, recruitment, or propaganda. On that list was Abubakar Shekau, the infamous Boko Haram leader whose brutality defined the insurgency’s darkest years. Ali-Keffi suggested that OSW had a hand in the chain of events that led to Shekau’s eventual downfall, stating that they “engineered what happened to him” because he was impossible to capture.
Yet, despite the scale of the intelligence gathered by OSW, none of it translated into courtroom evidence, legal indictments, or public accountability. Instead, the entire operation was quietly shut down. Ali-Keffi was removed, detained, and retired. The suspects were released. The allegations faded from public discourse. And the war against Boko Haram continued—bloody, expensive, and unresolved.
What makes Ali-Keffi’s testimony even more compelling is the consistency of his assertions and the fact that he has chosen to go public only after exhausting internal mechanisms. He wrote a petition to President Bola Tinubu seeking redress, but according to him, no action was taken. His case at the National Industrial Court has not moved forward; he claims that court papers were never properly served on the Army, suggesting possible interference. His lawyer, he said, suspects foul play.
Critics may argue that Ali-Keffi’s account is one-sided or politically motivated. But the depth of detail, the internal consistency of his claims, and the corroboration of certain facts by independent sources—including the existence of OSW, the arrest of suspects in 2021, and the involvement of the NFIU—raise serious questions that demand answers. If even a fraction of these allegations is true, Nigeria is facing one of the biggest national security scandals in its history: a situation in which terrorism financiers identified by intelligence authorities were shielded by political actors, while the military officer leading the investigation was punished for doing his job.
The former general insists that neither Buratai, Malami, Emefiele, nor Yahaya were ever found to be knowingly involved in terrorism financing. He repeatedly emphasized that their links to suspects were strictly business-related. But he also made it clear that such associations demanded scrutiny, not suppression. His position was simple: if someone is linked to a suspect in any way, they must be investigated. But instead of investigation, he witnessed obstruction, interference, and ultimately, what he calls a deliberate effort to “kill the investigation.”
As Nigeria continues to grapple with insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and extremism, Ali-Keffi’s testimony raises uncomfortable but necessary questions. How deep does the rot go? How many terrorism financiers remain untouched because of political connections? How many military operations have been undermined by internal sabotage? How many innocent soldiers died on the battlefield because the system protected those enabling their killers? And perhaps the most haunting question of all: what would Nigeria’s security landscape look like today if Operation Service Wide had been allowed to run its course?
Ali-Keffi’s account is not merely a personal story of persecution. It is a national alarm bell — a call for transparency, accountability, and an urgent re-examination of how Nigeria’s institutions handle terrorism-related intelligence. For now, the Nigerian Army has not given a detailed explanation for his detention, removal, or the shutdown of OSW. The NFIU has not publicly addressed the allegations. The Attorney-General’s office has not commented. And the suspects arrested in 2021 have vanished from public memory.
But with Ali-Keffi’s revelations now public, silence may no longer be an option.
Source: SaharaReporters.com