LAST week, a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army, Danjuma Ali-Keffi, asked President Bola Tinubu to investigate the death of former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Ibrahim Attahiru, in a plane crash in Kaduna, Kaduna State, on May 21, 2021, attributing the incident to the activities of terror financiers in the country. He also petitioned the president over his “illegal arrest”, detention and compulsory retirement from service for allegedly exposing how top officials were involved in terror financing during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Ali-Keffi, who made these allegations in an interview with a national daily, alleged that the late COAS’ trip had a subtext of sabotage, as there was a disruption in his initial travel plan. The disruptions, he alleged, included the unexpected change in travel time, a switch in aircraft, a shift in the landing airport from a military airstrip to the Kaduna International Airport, the landing in turbulent and stormy weather, and a preceding ear-shattering explosion before the crash. He highlighted the absence of a crater or impact at the crash site, claiming that the passengers’ bodies were ejected and burnt before the aircraft descended, strongly suggesting an “explosion.”
He said:“About 2100 hrs on Thursday 20 May 2021, I spoke on the phone with the Chief of Staff (COS) to the late COAS regarding their impending trip to Kaduna the following day (21 May 2021). ..I called the COS to the late COAS to confirm if their travel plan was as we discussed the night before, as I needed to make arrangements for the Mosque that the COAS would attend Jummu’at (Friday) prayers. The COS informed me that there was a change of plan. He said after we finished speaking last night, they received a message where the late COAS was to attend a meeting either at the Honourable Minister of Defence (HMOD) office or at the Presidential Villa at about 1000 hrs on Friday 21 May 2021 and that the late COAS was to attend in person and not send a representative. It is important to note that the late COAS’ trip to Kaduna was part of his visit to Zaria to attend the Passing Out Parade at the Depot NA slated for Saturday 22 May 2021. It is worth noting that the movement of service chiefs out of station (Abuja) is with the prior knowledge of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Honourable Minister of Defence (HMOD), and the presidency. So, why was a meeting scheduled for about the same time that the late COAS was to have departed for (or arrived) Kaduna and why the insistence that he (COAS) should not be represented?
“In any case, the COS informed me that in view of the meeting, they would depart the Flag House (official residence of the COAS) at about 1530 hrs (after attending the meeting and also after the Jummu’at prayers) for the airport…For reasons that I cannot understand till today, the flight was delayed for over an hour and did not take off until 1730 hrs or thereabouts. The reason for the delay, as I was informed, was that there was an issue with the aircraft that was initially assigned for the mission (to convey the COAS and his entourage) and that it had to be changed.”
Following the explosive allegations, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and civil society groups called on President Bola Tinubu to look into the issue. According to the director of publicity of the NEF, Abdulazeez Sulaiman, “investigating terrorism financing is crucial as it helps to identify the flow of funds that sustains the extremist groups.” Sulaiman added that if proved to be true, the allegations would expose deep-rooted problems within the military which are compromising its ability to combat terrorism, adding that the alleged involvement of sponsors of terror within the military could undermine national security and erode public trust. We concur. To say the least, Major-General Ali-Keffi’s allegations are troubling. The allegations concern urgent matters of national security dimension, as well as the sanctity of human life. They are therefore too weighty to be ignored, in part because the families of the military officers who died in the ill-fated flight in question need closure. The families need to be convinced that the death of their loved ones was an air accident and not an act of sabotage as alleged by Ali-Keffi.
For years now, members of the Nigerian military have been deployed in counter-terrorism operations and if a high-ranking official of Ali-Keffi’s status is openly making allegations regarding acts of sabotage in military operations, he should not be ignored. For one thing, the officers and men deployed on various fronts have already read the macabre story told by Ali-Keffi and must be wondering what to make of it, particularly as the retired officer is not known to have made such allegations in the past. For another, if there are financiers of terror who were indicted in a report submitted to the Presidency but who are still walking as free men and not subjected to questioning, there is a high probability that they are still at their nefarious job, wreaking untold havoc on the country.
While we make no comments on the veracity or otherwise of the former GOC’s comments, we believe that he has raised a number of posers which make a revisit of the matter imperative. For instance, where is the report that his panel allegedly submitted to the presidency which indicted top military officers and bankers of terror financing? Why was a pronouncement not made on the report, whether positive or negative? Why was the panel set up if the report was not going to be acted upon? What about the allegations of sabotage regarding the late COAS? Every human life matters, so if questions are being asked about the late COAS and those who perished in the air crash, the government should be interested in looking into the case.
To be sure, we are not saying that Ali-Keffi is right or wrong: like millions of Nigerians, we do not know what transpired in May 2021 before the ill-fated crash that took the lives of top military officers. However, we think that the allegations merit a thorough investigation and therefore urge the Tinubu government to look into it, and very quickly too.
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