Tukur Buratai, the former chief of army staff (COAS), has filed a N1 billion defamation suit against Danjuma Ali-Keffi, a retired major-general and former general officer commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army’s 1 division.

The suit, instituted before a Kaduna state high court on Thursday, stems from statements allegedly made by Ali-Keffi and circulated through online media platforms, linking Buratai to terrorism financing, Boko Haram suspects, and the unlawful release and shielding of terror suspects.

Buratai, who filed the action through his lawyers, A. I. Aliyu and A. M. Hassan of Law Plus Consult, asked the court to declare that “the publications, which appeared on Sahara Reporters and were further amplified on several news and social media platforms, were false, malicious and damaging to his reputation”.

The former army chief accused Ali-Keffi of granting interviews in 2025 in which he allegedly suggested that Buratai maintained relationships with individuals linked to terrorism and was involved in efforts to conceal terrorism-related activities while serving as COAS.

Buratai said the allegations gained wide circulation across digital platforms, including Facebook, X, WhatsApp and Instagram, exposing him to public ridicule and reputational damage within and outside Nigeria.

In his statement of claim, Buratai said he has never been investigated, indicted or convicted for terrorism, terrorism financing or any related offence, describing the allegations as baseless and misleading.

He argued that the statements portrayed him as “a threat to national security, an unpatriotic citizen and a corrupt public officer”, assertions he said had severely undermined his integrity, honour and standing in the international community.

He said Ali-Keffi “acted with malice and reckless disregard for the truth, even while acknowledging in the same publications that no official investigation had found Buratai culpable of terrorism financing”.