SaharaReporters further learnt that Archibong’s arrest was linked to the frequency of his communications with Ali-Keffi and allegations that the officer was “not cooperating” with military authorities.
Brigadier General Gabriel E. Archibong has been held incommunicado by the military for over 10 days following his arrest.
Military sources told SaharaReporters that neither his family nor his lawyers have been granted access to him.
“Brigadier General Archibong has been held incommunicado since his arrest,” a top source told SaharaReporters on Wednesday.
SaharaReporters reported earlier on Wednesday that military authorities had recently arrested and detained Brigadier General Archibong over his alleged association with retired Nigerian Army Major General Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi.
Sources expressed the belief that the development is linked to Ali-Keffi’s legal and public confrontation with former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd).
Ali-Keffi, who was appointed in October 2020 by then-President Muhammadu Buhari to head a covert Presidential Task Force, Operation Service Wide (OSW), has repeatedly raised serious allegations concerning the release of terrorism financing suspects while they were under military custody.
OSW, composed of personnel from the military, security and intelligence agencies, as well as legal officers from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, was tasked with arresting, investigating, and prosecuting financiers, sponsors, and collaborators of terrorist organisations, as well as capturing or eliminating terrorist leaders.
According to sources, a Brigadier General, identified as Gabriel E. Archibong, was arrested more than 10 days ago and is currently being held at the Army’s Special Investigation Bureau.
SaharaReporters further learnt that Archibong’s arrest was linked to the frequency of his communications with Ali-Keffi and allegations that the officer was “not cooperating” with military authorities.
“He was taken to his house in Lugbe a day after his arrest, where soldiers searched the premises for over three hours,” a military source said. “Nothing incriminating was found, but his phones and laptop were seized.”
Archibong is a serving officer at the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in Minna, Niger State.
Military sources fear that the detention may negatively affect the officer’s career and wellbeing, stressing that Archibong has done nothing wrong.
“We don’t want any harm to happen to the General or to his career,” a source said. “We feel awful that an officer is being treated like this because of Al-Keffi.”
The sources alleged that Buratai is behind the development, claiming that the former army chief has portrayed his actions to the military high command as an attempt to destroy the Nigerian Army by tarnishing its reputation.
“What a shame that the Army now considers that an attempt to bring Buratai to account for his misdeeds is tantamount to shredding the Army,” Ali-Keffi said. “This is a case of ‘Buratai is the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Army is Buratai.’”
The military sources also suggested that the arrest may be linked to preparations by the Army to defend itself in a suit Ali-Keffi instituted at the National Industrial Court.
The sources accused him of maintaining close ties within the military hierarchy after his retirement to avoid arrest over corruption and other allegations that trailed his tenure as COAS.
“Buratai is staying close to the military hierarchy because he fears being arrested just like the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. He believes that the military will shield him from arrest just as it stopped the DSS (Department of State Services) from arresting Godwin Emefiele (former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria) in early 2023,” one of the sources said.
On January 17, 2023, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that the then-Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, had deployed military personnel and intelligence officers to ensure that Emefiele, who had just returned to the country from the United Kingdom, was not arrested by the DSS.
SaharaReporters gathered from top sources that Emefiele, who was under the DSS radar for several weeks following the investigation of several allegations against him, including corruption and terrorism financing, was shielded by the military personnel provided by the CDS office in Abuja.
Ali-Keffi filed a multi-billion-naira lawsuit at the National Industrial Court in Abuja in December 2025 against the Nigerian Army and the entire top leadership of the military and defence establishment, challenging his arrest, detention and compulsory retirement.
In the suit, he alleges unlawful arrest, 64 days of detention without charge, torture, denial of fair hearing and violations of the Constitution, the Armed Forces Act and military regulations, which he says culminated in a dishonourable compulsory retirement.
He also claims that all terrorism-financing suspects arrested by the task force he headed, Operation Service Wide (OSW), were later released while he was detained.
Ali-Keffi says he and his family received death threats after his detention and retirement, forcing repeated foreign trips for safety and causing severe financial, emotional and psychological hardship.
He is seeking ₦100 billion in compensatory damages, another ₦100 billion in punitive damages, and ₦120 million in special damages for lost allowances.
He is also asking the court to nullify his compulsory retirement, recognise him as having retired voluntarily at age 60, and order full payment of his pensions, gratuities and other entitlements with interest.
“We believe that the military is trying to get an idea of the ‘stuff’ or information that Ali-Keffi has, hence, they picked up Brigadier General Archibong and detained him. Perhaps, this is indicative of their fears of losing the case as they basically can’t defend what they did to him,” one of the sources said.
“If Archibong was picked up because of the issue, then one can safely conclude that the military is firmly supporting Buratai and allowing itself to be used by an individual, which is contrary to what the Constitution has stipulated for the military). It’s such a shame.”
“The military must distance themselves from retired General Buratai if they don’t want to lose what is left of their battered image and reputation,” another source said.
“What an irony! General Buratai is retired but has not rested since his retirement. He (Buratai) is obviously not enjoying life, most certainly not having peace of mind owing to the skeletons in his cupboard. He is probably afraid of even his shadows.”
Terror Financing Probe and Allegations Against Senior Officials
The fresh development comes against the backdrop of explosive disclosures previously made by Ali-Keffi during exclusive interviews with SaharaReporters regarding a counter-terrorism investigation he led while in service.
Ali-Keffi, who headed Operation Service Wide (OSW), a special counter-terrorism task force, revealed that investigations into Boko Haram’s financiers uncovered an alleged network involving senior military officers, top financial officials, and key government figures.
According to documents obtained by SaharaReporters, OSW, working in collaboration with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), arrested several high-profile suspects in March 2021 based on detailed financial intelligence tracing money flows linked to terrorism financing.
Ali-Keffi stated that some of the suspects were linked to former Chiefs of Army Staff, including Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd) and Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya (rtd), former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele, and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
He clarified that he was not directly accusing any of the named individuals of financing terrorism but said investigations connected them to some of the arrested suspects.
Specifically, Ali-Keffi disclosed that two suspects arrested by OSW were linked to Buratai, two others were linked to Malami, one was linked to Emefiele, while one suspect was linked to Yahaya.
He further alleged that Malami interfered with the investigation by orchestrating the removal of a key prosecutor and influencing the handling and eventual release of certain suspects.
Ali-Keffi said the findings of the investigation were formally presented to then-President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2021 under the auspices of the NFIU.
According to him, his disclosures were not based on anonymous sources but on briefings he personally received from the then Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Modibbo Hamman-Tukur Ribadu, who worked directly with OSW during the investigation.
Ali-Keffi has since maintained that the backlash he has faced within the military establishment stems from his refusal to suppress the findings of the terror financing probe and his insistence on accountability at the highest levels of the armed forces.
In one of his exclusive interviews with SaharaReporters, Ali-Keffi lamented the release of all terrorism financing suspects in Army custody.
According to him, it occurred under “suspicious circumstances.”
He alleged that former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Yahaya (retd.), allegedly influenced by former Army Chief Lt. Gen. Buratai (retd.), orchestrated his exit from the Army to facilitate the release.
“All the terrorism financing suspects in the custody of the Army were released under suspicious circumstances. Thus, it could be safely deduced that General Yahaya, under the prompting of General Buratai set me up in order to get me out of the Army to pave way for the release of the suspects to cover up their links to some of the terror suspects,” he said in an interview.
“It is an open secret that General Buratai influenced the appointment of General Yahaya as the Army Chief following the death of General Attahiru as he wielded considerable influence in the Buhari administration.”