Ali-Keffi lamented that on October 18, 2021, he was arrested by military police and detained for 64 days under what he described as inhumane conditions.
A retired Nigerian Army Major General, Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi, has written to the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the leadership of the European Union, raising alarm over what he described as persistent threats to his life and that of his family.
According to Ali-Keffi, in a letter in which he described himself as “distressed and endangered,” this follows his role in a covert anti-terrorism operation under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the letter, Ali-Keffi appealed for international protection, stating that the Nigerian government has failed to guarantee his safety despite multiple assassination attempts and what he characterised as unlawful detention, compulsory retirement, and sustained persecution.
Background and Military Career
Ali-Keffi identified himself as a Nigerian citizen and a retired Major General who served in the Nigerian Army for 30 years. Born on January 29, 1966, in Kaduna, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Defence Studies.
He said his military career began at the Nigerian Defence Academy and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He also detailed his involvement in several international military engagements, including representing the Nigerian Army at training and planning conferences with the British Military Advisory Training Team between 2016 and 2019.
According to him, he served as Director of Training at Army Headquarters and Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, and later coordinated training programmes between the Nigerian Army and the militaries of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union. He also stated that he was the lead planner for the United States–Africa Land Forces Conference held in Abuja in April 2018.
Appointment to Presidential Task Force
Ali-Keffi said he was appointed in October 2020 by the late President Buhari to lead a covert Presidential Task Force known as Operation Service Wide (OSW). The task force, he said, comprised personnel from the military, security and intelligence agencies, as well as legal officers from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
He stated that OSW was mandated to arrest, investigate and prosecute terrorism financiers, sponsors and collaborators, as well as capture or eliminate leaders of terrorist organisations.
According to him, the operation was approved to run for six months but was later extended by an additional 13 months.
Ali-Keffi said he was handed a list of about 400 suspects and that during the initial six months of the operation, key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation were either captured or eliminated.
He added that 48 individuals identified as terrorism financiers were arrested, including a person described as a principal Boko Haram leader identified by Western and Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.
He further stated that OSW collaborated with about 33 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, under the cover of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Alleged Pressure, Bribery Attempts and Fallout
According to the retired general, pressure began shortly after OSW reported its early successes to the Presidency in March 2021. He alleged that he was instructed to release some of the arrested suspects but refused, and that attempts were made to bribe members of the task force with large sums of money to compromise the operation.
He claimed the situation worsened following the death of then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, and Brigadier General Abdulrahman Kuliya in a plane crash at the Kaduna International Airport on May 21, 2021.
He said, “I was asked to release some of the arrested persons but I refused. Similarly, attempts were made to bribe us with huge sums of money to compromise our position but we equally refused.
“The pressure however took a nasty turn when the aircraft conveying the Chief of Army Staff at the time, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 others blew up when it came to land at the Kaduna International Airport in Kaduna, Nigeria, on 21 May 2021 in what I suspected to have been from explosives that were deliberately planted in the plane.”
Ali-Keffi said both officers were key supporters of OSW and alleged that the aircraft explosion may have been deliberate, though he acknowledged that the official report of the incident has not been published.
“To this day, the full report of the air mishap has not been published and any effort to obtain details of the incident has been rebuffed. I suspected that their killings were deliberate and designed to undermine the OSW,” he said.
He said following the crash, OSW began to face operational setbacks, including denial of funds and his removal as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Division on August 8, 2021. He stated that the GOC appointment was meant to support his OSW role by providing troops for overt operations.
Arrest, Detention and Compulsory Retirement
Ali-Keffi lamented that on October 18, 2021, he was arrested by military police and detained for 64 days under what he described as inhumane conditions. He said he was held in solitary confinement, stripped of personal belongings, subjected to intense interrogation and denied basic comforts.
According to him, he collapsed during detention after six weeks and was hospitalised under armed guard before being returned to custody. He said he was released on December 21, 2021, and issued a letter of compulsory retirement without being charged, tried or court-martialled.
He stated that he has never been informed of any offence against him and that efforts to seek audience with the late President Buhari after his arrest were unsuccessful, despite previously reporting directly to him.
“Till date, I have not been told what my offence or offences are,” he said.
Alleged Links of Senior Officials to Suspects
In the letter, Ali-Keffi said that investigations during OSW uncovered links between some terrorism financing suspects and very senior military officers and political figures, including former Army Chiefs Lieutenant Generals Tukur Yusuf Buratai and Faruk Yahaya, and former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
He stressed that he was not accusing them of terrorism financing or of knowingly associating with terrorists, but alleged that these links emerged during investigations.
He said, “Very senior military top brass (now retired) were discovered during the investigation and interrogation of the suspects to be linked to some of the terrorism financing suspects.
“Notable examples include Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai and Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya. However, I am not accusing them of terrorism financing or that they were aware that the individuals whom they are linked to were involved in terrorism financing.
“Similarly, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the Buhari Government, Mr Aboubakar Malami, was also discovered to have links to some of the terrorism financing suspects.”
“As stated in the case of the top military brasses (Generals: Buratai and Yahaya respectively), Mr Malami is also not being accused of terrorism financing or of knowing of the criminal activities of the suspects,” he added.
He further claimed that a former NFIU head conveyed a request on behalf of Buratai for the release of two suspects, which he said he refused and reported to the president.
Ali-Keffi also alleged that call data records linked General Yahaya to individuals involved in illegal mining and banditry in north-western Nigeria. He noted that Yahaya was Chief of Army Staff at the time of his arrest and compulsory retirement, and accused him of falsely alleging insubordination.
He further alleged that following his arrest, all 48 terrorism suspects held at an Army detention facility were released without trial under what he described as suspicious circumstances.
Assassination Attempts and Legal Action
Ali-Keffi stated that since his removal from service, he has survived four assassination attempts, the most recent occurring along the Kaduna–Abuja highway on June 7, 2023.
He said he wrote to President Bola Tinubu on June 21, 2023, seeking redress but has received no meaningful response. He added that he instituted a legal action against the Nigerian Army at the National Industrial Court in June 2025, but claimed the case has not commenced because the Army has allegedly refused to accept service of court documents.
He also said he has spoken publicly about his case on television and radio programmes without receiving relief.
Appeal for International Protection
Citing what he described as Nigeria’s failure to fulfil its responsibility to protect him, Ali-Keffi appealed to the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union to intervene and provide protection for him and his family.
He warned that they are in “mortal danger” and alleged that without external intervention, they risk being killed.