The Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre has been placed under heavy security as more than 50 operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) took positions around the facility, sources say. The deployment comes after former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was granted bail in his ₦8.7 billion money laundering case.

Security sources described an intense atmosphere at the prison, with operatives arriving in a convoy of about six Toyota Hilux vans and establishing a perimeter to monitor all entries and exits. The DSS presence is reportedly to ensure Malami does not evade ongoing investigations related to terrorism financing, though such charges were not included in the case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Emeka Nwite granted bail to Malami and two co-defendants, each set at ₦500 million with two sureties. The court ordered that sureties provide verified property documents from highbrow Abuja districts and submit travel documents to the court. Malami was barred from leaving Nigeria without prior court approval.

Malami, currently remanded at Kuje, is standing trial alongside his son, Abdulaziz Malami, and wife, Bashir Asabe, over allegations of laundering ₦8.7 billion.

Background details indicate that Malami and other high-profile Nigerians were reportedly linked to a terrorism financing investigation conducted by Operation Service Wide (OSW), a multi-agency counter-terrorism task force led by retired Army General Danjuma Ali-Keffi. OSW, working with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), identified suspects allegedly financing Boko Haram operations, some of whom were connected to senior military officers and government officials.

Ali-Keffi alleged that Malami interfered with the investigation by removing a senior prosecution lawyer who sought to charge 48 terrorism financing suspects. According to Ali-Keffi, pressure was then applied to shift the case from terrorism financing to money laundering, allegedly affecting the investigation’s direction and outcomes.

While he stressed that he was not accusing Malami or other senior officials of terrorism financing, Ali-Keffi said evidence linking some individuals emerged during OSW’s operations, raising concerns about the Attorney General’s role in overseeing the release of certain suspects.