EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Army Detains Brig. Gen. Archibong, Domestic Staff Over Links To General Who Exposed Release Of Terror Financing Suspects

Sources said Archibong’s domestic staff, including his cook/gardener, personal assistant, and driver, were arrested and detained in connection with the case.

Military authorities have reportedly detained a serving Brigadier General, Gabriel E. Archibong, since the first week of January 2026 over his alleged links to a retired Nigerian Army Major General, Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi.

SaharaReporters gathered that three others, two military personnel and a civilian, are also in custody alongside the senior officer.

Sources said Archibong’s domestic staff, including his cook/gardener, personal assistant, and driver, were arrested and detained in connection with the case.

Those currently held with him include Sgt. Zakari Lawali, his personal assistant; Cpl. Adekanye Olaoluwa, his driver; and Ismaila, identified as a civilian steward in his household.

“Those detained along with Brig. Gen. Gabriel Archibong are Sgt. Zakari Lawali, Cpl. Adekanye Olaoluwa and Ismaila,” a source said. “He (Archibong) was arrested for being close to Gen. Ali-Keffi (Rtd).” 

In January, SaharaReporters reported that sources said Archibong’s arrest was connected 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.

In January, SaharaReporters also reported that Brig. Gen. Archibong was being held at the Army’s Special Investigation Bureau.

The outlet further learnt that his arrest was linked to the frequency of his communications with Ali-Keffi, as well as allegations that he 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 previously told SaharaReporters. “Nothing incriminating was found, but his phones and laptop were seized.”

Archibong serves as the Chief of Staff at the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Nigerian Army, Minna, Niger State, where he plays a strategic role in shaping military training, doctrine, and operational effectiveness.

Archibong is a highly respected Nigerian Army officer known for his dedication, resilience, and distinguished service. He began his military career in 1994 at the Nigerian Defence Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1999 after earning a degree in Political Science and Defence Studies.

Over the years, he has served in numerous key military formations and commands across Nigeria, as well as in operational theatres in the North East. Internationally, he has represented Nigeria in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Gabon, contributing to regional peace and stability.

Despite suffering severe injuries in a life-threatening motor accident that left him bedridden for over two years, Archibong made a remarkable recovery and returned to active duty, demonstrating exceptional perseverance. 

His career has earned him multiple awards and commendations for leadership, bravery, and professionalism.

Military sources fear that the detention may negatively affect the officer’s career and well-being, stressing that Archibong has done nothing wrong.

Sources alleged that Buratai is behind Archibong’s detention.

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.

Ali-Keffi, who headed Operation Service Wide (OSW), a special counter-terrorism task force, previously 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.