Retired General Alleges Retaliation After Capturing Boko Haram Leader

***Calls for Probe into COAS Plane Crash

In a dramatic letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, retired Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi has revealed what he describes as a disturbing pattern of retaliation following his pivotal role in Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram.
Ali-Keffi, who previously commanded the Nigerian Army’s 1 Division and served as General Officer Commanding (GOC), led an elite task force that apprehended key Boko Haram figures, including what he called the “real leader” of the terror group.
However, rather than being lauded for his success, Ali-Keffi claimed he was compulsorily retired, arrested, and held in solitary confinement for 64 days.
After his retirement, he was appointed to lead Operation Service Wide, a presidential-sanctioned counter-terrorism investigative team.
The operation reportedly uncovered not only terror masterminds but also a network of financiers, which Ali-Keffi alleged included senior government officials, military officers, and major financial institutions.
“The moment we arrested some of these individuals and started exposing the financial pipelines of terror, the backlash began,” Ali-Keffi wrote to the President.
He further alleged that powerful interests within and outside the government moved swiftly to suppress the operation and silence those involved.
In his letter, Ali-Keffi also raised concerns over the death of Nigeria’s late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in a plane crash in 2021. Ali-Keffi suggested that Attahiru’s determination to go after terror financiers—and his endorsement of Operation Service Wide—may have made him a target, and he called on President Tinubu to reopen a transparent investigation into both the crash and the broader sabotage of anti-terror efforts.
The revelations have sparked renewed calls for accountability, though the federal government has yet to respond publicly. Analysts say Ali-Keffi’s claims point to a troubling internal dynamic where efforts to combat terrorism are undermined from within, punishing rather than rewarding those on the frontlines.
Ali-Keffi’s testimony raises urgent questions: Who truly benefits from the prolonged fight against insurgency, and why are internal actors committed to ending terror being silenced?
Until these questions are addressed with transparency, observers warn that Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts may remain compromised—not due to strategy or lack of will, but because of entrenched internal obstruction at the highest levels.