DSS: The Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) has been placed under an intensified security lockdown following the deployment of over 50 operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to the facility.
Multiple security sources confirmed that the operatives began taking strategic positions around the custodial centre from Wednesday, shortly after the Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in his ongoing ₦8.7 billion money laundering trial.
According to the sources, the deployment is a preemptive security measure linked to an ongoing investigation into terrorism financing, amid concerns that Malami, who is currently remanded at the facility, must remain within the reach of investigators.
“MSCC in Kuje, Abuja, since Wednesday has been besieged with operatives of the DSS, numbering over 50 personnel,” a senior security source disclosed.
“They are there to ensure the former AGF does not escape the terrorism financing investigation.”
Witnesses reported that the DSS operatives arrived in a convoy of approximately six Toyota Hilux vans, establishing a visible security perimeter around the prison gates and closely monitoring all movements in and out of the facility.
“About six Hilux vans are waiting at Kuje Prison,” another source confirmed.
DSS: Court Proceedings and Bail Conditions
On Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted Malami and two other defendants bail in the sum of ₦500 million each, with two sureties per defendant.
The court ordered that the sureties must own landed property in highbrow Abuja districts, including Asokoro, Maitama, or Gwarinpa, and must deposit their travel documents with the court.
Justice Nwite further directed that the property documents be verified by the Deputy Chief Registrar, while the sureties must swear to affidavits of means. Malami was also ordered to submit his own travel documents and was barred from leaving Nigeria without prior court approval.
The matter had earlier been adjourned to January 7, 2026, for hearing of Malami’s bail application.
Malami, who served as Nigeria’s chief law officer for eight years, is standing trial alongside his son, Abdulaziz Malami, SAN, and one of his wives, Bashir Asabe, on a 16-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The defendants are accused of laundering a total sum of ₦8.7 billion.
Although the EFCC charges do not explicitly include terrorism financing, security sources say investigations into alleged links between financial flows and insurgent activities remain active.
DSS: Allegations from Counter-Terrorism Investigations
In December 2025, retired Nigerian Army General Danjuma Ali-Keffi, former head of Operation Service Wide (OSW)—a multi-agency counter-terrorism task force approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari—alleged that investigations uncovered links between terrorism financing suspects and several high-profile Nigerians.
Ali-Keffi disclosed that OSW, working with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), arrested several suspects in March 2021 based on financial intelligence tracing money flows linked to terrorism financing.
According to him, some suspects were allegedly linked to former senior government officials, including Malami, former Army Chiefs Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd) and Gen. Faruk Yahaya (rtd), as well as former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Ali-Keffi, however, clarified:
“I am not accusing Buratai, Malami, or Emefiele of terrorism financing.”
He further alleged that during the OSW investigation, Malami interfered by removing a senior prosecution lawyer who had insisted that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute 48 suspects on terrorism financing charges.
Ali-Keffi has since written to international leaders, including the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, alleging threats to his life and persecution following his role in counter-terrorism operations.
As investigations continue, the heavy DSS presence at Kuje Prison underscores what security sources describe as a critical phase in Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to unravel alleged terrorism financing networks. DSS
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