The Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) has been placed under a heavy security blanket as over 50 operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) took up strategic positions around the facility beginning Wednesday.
The deployment is reportedly a preemptive move to ensure the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, being held at the facility does not escape an investigation into terrorism financing, especially after he was granted bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja in his N8.7 billion money laundering case on Wednesday.
“MSCC in Kuje, Abuja, since Wednesday has been besieged with operatives of the DSS, numbering over 50 personnel,” a top security source said.
“They are there to ensure former AGF Abubakar Malami doesn't escape the terrorism financing investigation.”
On Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite granted bail to Malami, and two other defendants in the sum of ₦500 million each, with two sureties.
The court ruled that the sureties must own landed property in highbrow Abuja districts, including Asokoro, Maitama or Gwarinpa, and are required to deposit their travel documents with the court.
Justice Nwite further ordered that the property documents be verified by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court, while the sureties must also swear to affidavits of means.
In addition, Malami was directed to submit his travel documents to the court and was barred from leaving the country without prior permission of the court.
The court earlier adjourned to January 7, 2026, the hearing of a bail application filed by Abubakar Malami, who is facing alleged money laundering charges.
Malami, who is currently being remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, is standing trial alongside his son, Abdulaziz Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and one of his wives, Bashir Asabe, over a 16-count charge filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Malami and the other defendants are accused of laundering a total sum of ₦8.7 billion.
Meanwhile, sources have described an intense atmosphere at the prison facility as the secret police arrived in a convoy of approximately six Toyota Hilux vans.
The operatives have established a perimeter around the prison gates, monitoring all entries and exits with heightened scrutiny.
“About six Hilux vans are waiting at Kuje Prison,” one of the sources said.
Background
Malami, who served as the nation's chief law officer for eight years, has been under the radar of security agencies following allegations linking various financial flows to insurgent activities.
While the specific details of the evidence remain classified, the scale of the DSS presence suggests that the investigation has reached a critical juncture.
In December, when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained Malami, sources said the investigation was linked to terrorism financing and the whereabouts of Abacha loot recovered from Switzerland and the Island of Jersey in the United Kingdom.
However, terrorism financing was not included in the charges later filed by the EFCC.
In an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters in December 2025, retired Nigerian Army General Danjuma Ali-Keffi, who led a counter-terrorism operation personally approved by then-President Muhammadu Buhari and previously served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1 Division, disclosed that some high-profile Nigerians were linked to suspects arrested for terrorism financing.
Ali-Keffi was handpicked in 2021 to lead Operation Service Wide (OSW), a multi-agency investigative task force mandated to identify Boko Haram’s masterminds, expose their financial backers, and dismantle the networks enabling the insurgency.
But according to the retired general, the operation unearthed far more than expected. It exposed a sprawling network of financiers allegedly tied to senior government officials, influential military officers, and top financial institutions.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters confirm that OSW, working with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), arrested several high-profile suspects in March 2021. The arrests were based on detailed financial intelligence that tracked flows of money linked to terrorism financing.
These findings were formally presented to President Buhari in September 2021 under the auspices of the NFIU. According to Ali-Keffi, his comments were not based on anonymous sources but on what he was personally told by the then-Director/CEO of the NFIU at the time, Modibbo Hamman-Tukur Ribadu, who worked directly with OSW.
According to him, two suspects arrested by OSW were linked to former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd).
Also, two other suspects were linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Malami, while one suspect was linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Gen. Faruk Yahaya (rtd) was linked to one suspect.
“I am not accusing Buratai, Malami, or Emefiele of terrorism financing,” Ali-Keffi clarified.
“But I was informed by the former NFIU Director that investigations linked them to some of the suspects. I don’t know if they were later cleared but up to the time that I was arrested, detained, compulsorily retired and taken off the OSW, they were linked to some of the suspects.”
Ali-Keffi alleged that during the terrorism financing investigation handled by OSW, Malami interfered with the process by removing a senior prosecution lawyer who had been assisting the team.
According to him, the lawyer was removed around August or September 2021 after refusing to compromise her position that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute 48 suspects on terrorism financing charges.
He said he later raised concerns that pressure was being mounted on him to pursue money-laundering charges instead of terrorism financing, a move he believed was intended to shift the case to the EFCC, which was under the supervision of the Attorney General at the time.
Ali-Keffi claimed that these actions were aimed at undermining the investigation and that his resistance, along with that of the removed prosecutor, allegedly triggered reprisals against him, including what he described as trumped-up allegations by the military.
Ali-Keffi later wrote to the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and leaders of the European Union, seeking international protection.
In the letters, he said his life and that of his family were under threat following his role in a covert anti-terrorism operation during the Buhari administration.
He claimed the Nigerian government failed to guarantee his safety despite alleged assassination attempts, unlawful detention, forced retirement, and continued persecution.
He stated that he was initially handed a list of about 400 suspects and that within the first six months of the operation, several key Boko Haram leaders were either captured or killed. He added that 48 individuals identified as terrorism financiers were arrested, including a figure described as a principal Boko Haram leader recognised by Western and Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.
Ali-Keffi further claimed that OSW investigations uncovered links between some terrorism financing suspects and senior military officers and political figures, including former Army Chiefs Tukur Yusuf Buratai and Faruk Yahaya, as well as former Attorney General Malami.
He stressed that he was not accusing these individuals of terrorism financing or knowingly associating with terrorists, but said the links emerged during investigations.
He also alleged that the release of some suspects could not have occurred without the knowledge and cooperation of the Attorney General’s office, which he said was responsible for guiding investigations and advising on prosecutions or releases where evidence was insufficient.
Ali-Keffi suggested that Malami’s alleged links to some suspects made it logical to assume his involvement in decisions that led to their release, arguing that such actions would have required approval at the highest levels to protect reputations and avoid the severe consequences associated with terrorism financing allegations.