Retired Nigerian Army Major General Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi has written to the Presidents and Prime Ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the leadership of the European Union, urgently appealing for international protection.
He claims his life and the lives of his family are in “mortal danger” due to his role in a high-profile, covert anti-terrorism operation under the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Sahara Reporters, Ali-Keffi claims the Nigerian government has failed to guarantee his safety following multiple assassination attempts, alleged unlawful detention, and compulsory retirement without charges.
Ali-Keffi stated that he was appointed in October 2020 by President Buhari to lead the covert Presidential Task Force, Operation Service Wide (OSW), which comprised military, security, and intelligence personnel, as well as legal experts.
He said the OSW was mandated to arrest, investigate, and prosecute terrorism financiers, sponsors, and collaborators, and eliminate terrorist leaders.
Ali Keffi said in the initial six months, OSW reportedly captured or eliminated key Boko Haram leaders and arrested 48 individuals identified as terrorism financiers, including a principal Boko Haram leader identified by Western and Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.
According to him, OSW collaborated with about 33 countries, including the US, UK, and EU, leveraging the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The crisis, according to Ali-Keffi, began shortly after reporting the successes in March 2021.
He claims he refused instructions to release some arrested suspects and rejected attempts to bribe members of the task force with large sums of money.
He alleged the May 21, 2021, plane crash that killed then-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others, may have been deliberate, suspecting “explosives” were planted to undermine OSW, as Attahiru was a key supporter. The official crash report has not been published.
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 claimed he was removed as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Division in August 2021, arrested by military police on October 18, 2021, and detained for 64 days in solitary confinement under inhumane conditions before being hospitalized after collapsing.
He was released on December 21, 2021, and issued a letter of compulsory retirement without ever being charged, tried, or court-martialled.
Ali-Keffi alleged that OSW investigations uncovered links between some arrested terrorism financing suspects and very senior military and political figures, including Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (former COAS), Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya (former COAS) and Abubakar Malami (former AGF).
He stressed that he was not accusing them of terrorism financing but that their links emerged during investigations.
He specifically claimed that General Yahaya was linked to individuals involved in illegal mining and banditry, and that following his arrest, all 48 terrorism suspects were released without trial under suspicious circumstances.
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.”
Ali-Keffi stated that he has survived four assassination attempts since his removal, the most recent being in June 2023.
He disclosed that he has written to President Bola Tinubu seeking redress and instituted a legal action against the Nigerian Army at the National Industrial Court in June 2025, but claims the Army has refused service of court documents.
Citing Nigeria’s failure to protect him, he appealed to the US, UK, and EU to intervene and provide protection for him and his family, warning they risk being killed without external intervention.
