Boko Haram Sponsors Linked to the Nigerian Military: Investigative Report

Major General Ali-Keffi, who was previously the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army, has revealed that terrorism financing, procurement, and the transportation of arms and ammunition for Boko Haram and other criminal groups are connected to the military. General Ali-Keffi was removed from his position in the army after he exposed his colleagues’ involvement in terror financing. He wrote a letter to President Bola Tinubu detailing his arrest, detention, and forced retirement.

According to Ali-Keffi, some individuals involved in the financing of Boko Haram terrorists and who were also involved in the procurement and movement of arms and ammunition for Boko Haram and other criminal organisations had links with the military. He headed Operation Service Wide (OPS), set up by former President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate those involved in terrorism financing. His arrest, detention, and compulsory retirement followed the report of his team, which exposed the involvement of senior government officials, a top banker, and top military brass in terrorism financing.

Ali-Keffi headed a presidential investigative task force, the Board of Inquiry (BOI), convened by Major General BM Monguno (rtd), the former National Security Adviser (NSA), which sat in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for five weeks from early January to late February 2020. The BOI uncovered 295 oil tankers that conveyed Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and identified the major smugglers. The BoI made a significant discovery regarding the relationship between the smuggling racket, terrorism besetting the North-East, and banditry/kidnapping for ransom, which was at its formative stage in the North-West and parts of the North-Central geopolitical zones.

Ali-Keffi revealed that a syndicate, which had an extensive network in the country as well as being affiliated with an international criminal network, was at the centre of moving finances for terrorism and other criminal activities. He argued that terrorism and insurgency in the north-east, north-west, and north-central were criminal enterprises and were largely undertaken with profit rather than any ideology as the primary motive. The BoI arrived at the obvious conclusion that progress cannot be achieved unless the financiers, collaborators, supporters, and leadership of the terrorist and insurgent groups are identified and the network dismantled. Recommendations on the findings were made and submitted to the presidency, but they were swept under the rug because of the powerful individuals involved.

The operation successfully infiltrated the leadership of terror groups in the North-East, which culminated in their decimation, adding that key terrorism financiers were linked to the individuals convicted for terror financing in the UAE. However, trouble started when the task force became “victims of unfair attacks,” including the starvation of funding for its operations. This substantiates the argument that some powerful persons in and outside government as well as from the military were uncomfortable with the task force and specifically Ali-Keffi as commander.

The death of Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, under whose tenure he served as GOC, dealt a blow to the task force as the new army chief, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, removed him as GOC 1 Mechanised Division, Kaduna. Subsequently, the presidency and the AGF became “less helpful.” The entire episode culminated in his arrest and detention for 64 days in solitary confinement, where he slept on the floor, with consequent health implications.

Ali-Keffi lamented that the most painful part of his experience was that President Buhari, who approved his headship of the task force, did not come to his rescue. He is now begging President Tinubu for his intervention on the matter, requesting that he cause an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his arrest, detention, maltreatment, and compulsory retirement from the Nigerian Army. He also sought a review of his compulsory retirement from the army and that it should be commuted to voluntary retirement as well as approved compensation for the expenditure incurred by the task force in hiring vehicles and quarters. This should include compensation for the pains and injuries suffered while incarcerated and approval of personal security.

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