The Nigerian Army has uncovered and apprehended an impostor who, for years, paraded himself as a retired Major General, trading on the prestige of the military to deceive the public and bend institutions to his will.
In a statement issued on February 12, 2026 by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, the Army named the suspect as Alhaji Tijjani Abdul Rauf and declared without equivocation that no such retired senior officer exists in its records.
Preliminary investigations, the Army said, established that Abdul Rauf was never commissioned into the Service at any time, never rose through the officer ranks and never retired from the Nigerian Army in any capacity.
Further probes also punctured other grand claims. The suspect, investigators found, falsely asserted that he attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies and that he was a recipient of the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) assertions the Army confirmed were entirely fabricated.
According to the statement, these false credentials were routinely deployed to intimidate and impress unsuspecting civilians, including during court proceedings where he presented himself as a retired senior officer to command undue influence and sympathy.
During interrogation, investigators recovered media reports from two national newspapers in which the suspect was repeatedly described as a “retired Major General,” underscoring how deeply the deception had penetrated the public space.
One such report by Premium Times identified him as “Major General AbdulRauf Tijjani (rtd)” in a suit against the Lagos State Government, where he sought ₦8 billion in damages.
Another report by Independent Newspaper, dated November 9, 2020, similarly referred to him as a retired major general while chronicling his appeal against the dismissal of the suit earlier described by the court as a gross abuse of process.
The Army stressed that no retired officer bears the name Alhaji Tijjani Abdul Rauf, nor has anyone with that identity ever attained the rank of Major General or above, condemning the impersonation as a grave offence that erodes public trust and dishonours genuine service.
Reaffirming its resolve, the Nigerian Army said it would work with relevant authorities to bring impostors to justice, urged the public to verify claims of military status through proper channels, and warned that the unlawful use of military titles, uniforms or badges would attract the full weight of the law.