The
Federal Government has been monitoring the social media accounts of Nigerians
who are suspected of having links with various terrorist groups, including Boko
Haram and the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, findings by SUNDAY PUNCH
have shown.
Our
correspondent learnt that through covert operations, which have been going on
for a while, security agencies hack into the Facebook and Twitter accounts of
those they are monitoring.
The
move, it was learnt, was meant to frustrate terrorist attacks on the country.
The
project, which is costing the country millions of dollars, is being managed by
the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Multiple
sources, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorised to inform the press about the security checks, stated that
the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan approved the request
by security agencies to spy on targeted sections of the population, mainly
religious extremists and radicalised individuals.
It
was gathered that the project is being coordinated by some foreign firms,
including an Israeli firm, Elbit System.
Our
correspondent learnt that the local espionage involves hacking of phones, email
accounts, social media accounts and bugging of telephone conversations of
persons of interest.
A
source said, “The surveillance system is not being used to target everyone, as
people may want to believe. It is only deployed to get intelligence on specific
targets because it would be hard and difficult to use such system to spy on all
Nigerians; the amount of data would be too huge and staggering for the
assessors to sort and manage.
“Basically,
the system is used to hack into emails and phones of targets, and the targets
are those who are suspected of having ties with terrorists, whether Boko Haram,
ISIS or any other criminal element.”
It
was also learnt that the system had greatly assisted security agencies to nip
in the bud and also frustrate many terror plots and attacks across the country.
The
security agencies had been using electronic trackers, which they were used to
track and apprehend kidnappers.
But
it was learnt that the electronic surveillance system is more effective and has
better capacities to hack emails, passwords and social media accounts used by
terrorists to recruit members.
The
Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, confirmed that security
agencies were using a sophisticated surveillance system as part of measures to
combat crime and terrorism in the country.
He
said, “It is not a new technology. Everywhere in the world, it is used,
including drones and other sophisticated equipment. Nigeria is part of the
international community; we have our surveillance system, which shows that
Nigeria is developing.”
Ojukwu
said the security agencies respect the rights of Nigerians and were not using
the system to hack the phones and computers of innocent Nigerians.
The
Department of State Services could not be reached for information on their use
of the surveillance system.
Source:punchng
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