The Federal Government has been
monitoring social media accounts of Nigerians who are suspected of
having links with terrorist groups.
The Punch reports that through covert operations security agencies hack into the Facebook and Twitter accounts of those they are monitoring. The move was meant to prevent and frustrate terrorist attacks on the country.
The project is being managed by the office of the national security adviser and costs the country millions of dollars.
Source, who pleaded for anonymity, revealed that the administration of the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, approved the request by security agencies to spy on targeted sections of the population.
“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,” the source said.
It was learnt that the security agencies had been using electronic trackers, which help to find and arrest kidnappers. However, the electronic surveillance system is more effective and has better capacities to hack emails and social media accounts used by terrorists to recruit members.
Emmanuel Ojukwu, the force public relations officer, confirmed that security agencies were using a sophisticated surveillance system to combat terrorism in the country.
“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,” he noted.
However, Ojukwu highlighted that the security agencies respect the rights of Nigerians and do not use the system to hack the phones and computers of innocent Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military revealed plans to intensify the fight against terrorism in the country following the recurrence of attacks in the north east.
The Punch reports that through covert operations security agencies hack into the Facebook and Twitter accounts of those they are monitoring. The move was meant to prevent and frustrate terrorist attacks on the country.
The project is being managed by the office of the national security adviser and costs the country millions of dollars.
Source, who pleaded for anonymity, revealed that the administration of the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, approved the request by security agencies to spy on targeted sections of the population.
“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,” the source said.
It was learnt that the security agencies had been using electronic trackers, which help to find and arrest kidnappers. However, the electronic surveillance system is more effective and has better capacities to hack emails and social media accounts used by terrorists to recruit members.
Emmanuel Ojukwu, the force public relations officer, confirmed that security agencies were using a sophisticated surveillance system to combat terrorism in the country.
“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,” he noted.
However, Ojukwu highlighted that the security agencies respect the rights of Nigerians and do not use the system to hack the phones and computers of innocent Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military revealed plans to intensify the fight against terrorism in the country following the recurrence of attacks in the north east.
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