Nigeria has over the years witnessed a paradigm shift in the security threat it faces. For decades, armed robbery mainly highway, house-to-house and bank robbery were the order of the day. Armed robbery in Nigeria was popularised by Lawrence Anini, Nigeria’s most notorious criminal.

Anini became a robbery figurehead; he was convicted and executed in August 1986. Years later armed robbery spiralled, becoming the number one security threat to Nigerians and businesses. This has led to the emergence of reactive techniques by successive governments; the government typically responded by purchasing patrol vehicles, formation of “special” police outfits such as operation bang, flush, sweep, fire-for-fire etc to tackle the menace.
These techniques were to some extent successful, however the lack of maintenance and training led to these vehicles and outfits immobilised some months later.

In July 2009, Mohammed Yusuf the leader of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) was killed while in detention in Maiduguri. Since his death, Nigeria has been plagued by a new threat – insurgency, similar to the ones employed by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-shabab in Somalia.
Prior to the death of Yusuf, Nigerians never envisaged the possibility of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) going off in major cities let alone the capital, Abuja. The military reactively suppressed the first uprising by Boko Haram leading to a tentative normalcy, though the uprising largely remained in Northern Nigeria. John Campbell, the United States former Ambassador to Nigeria and Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at Council for Foreign Relations noted in his article that;
“Boko Haram has also expanded its area of operations. In 2011, Boko Haram violence was largely confined to Nigeria’s northeast; by the end of 2012, the Nigeria Security Tracker had documented incidents across all of northern Nigeria. This year, Boko Haram-related attacks have occurred in fourteen out of the country’s thirty-six states, including all twelve of the states that have already adopted Islamic law, and in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.”

Boko Haram attacks has widened and their raids more brazen, striking in the headquarters of Nigeria Police in the capital Abuja. This attack signified robust sophistication in the group’s modus operandi and the overwhelming capability to launch attack anywhere in Nigeria. Recently their attacks has widened to include targeting military barracks, freeing prison inmates and more recently attacking telecom infrastructures.

The government’s foray into biometric capture and SIM card registration as a means of checkmating crime especially kidnapping and terrorism already provides the backbone to launch an extensive electronic intelligence gathering. Nigeria’s version of Echelon should be able to intercept, trace, monitor and transmit electronic communication intelligence amongst Nigeria’s security instalments. The time for a different approach in managing Nigeria’s security is now; gun power coupled with precise intelligence will lead to an effective and sophisticated elimination of threats anywhere in Nigeria and West Africa.
Nigeria should create a tactical Electronic Intelligence Unit either within the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) or an independent unit answerable to the Defence Minister and/or the Presidency. Their work will be to sift through the massive intelligence data already captured and to proactively seek to use electronic techniques to gather, decipher and share intelligence. As Nigeria’s internet connectivity improves, the unit will be able to protect critical internet-dependent infrastructures.

In the United Kingdom, GCHQ and other intelligence parastatals play a critical role in the defence of the country; from eavesdropping to reading sensitive email contents. During the Omagh bombing in August 1998, the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) succeeded only because intelligence wasn’t shared or responded to promptly. BBC panorama reported that MI5 was aware of the plan and GCHQ monitored the mobile phones of the bombers during the day of attack.

The launch of NigComSat-1 in 2004 and the subsequent satellite launches that ensued put Nigeria in a club of technology players and gave Nigeria a tool that many countries aspire to have. The Electronic Intelligence Unit (EIU) must coordinate effortlessly with National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA) and Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) to monitor Nigeria’s boarders day and night. These are existing infrastructures Nigeria already has in place, minor logistics and funding will create the right platform to launch this outfit. The existing corporation between the security agencies and telecom operators must be enhanced and all communication managed by EIU.

Nigeria will have to evaluate its current capabilities, project future capabilities and devise its own approach to solving its security issues. The anti-terrorism law has given the legal framework for security agencies to develop far-reaching capacity to defend Nigeria. The USA PATROIT act was enacted when America was attacked in 2001; Nigeria’s anti terrorism act was passed due to increasing attacks by Boko Haram.

The conflict in Mali has reiterated the importance of maintaining strong intelligence outpost in West and Northern Africa. Intelligence gathering and sharing must be enhanced within the sub region especially to checkmate the activities of Islamic fundamentalists.

The courageous Joint Taskforce (JTF) when supported with more precise and effective intelligence will surely do their job better. The attention given to security/defence in the budget is laudable but its implementation is questionable. Increase in defence spending must be complemented by increase in capabilities; including military hardware and personnel development and preparedness. The overall safety of the country will be the yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of Nigeria’s huge defence spending.

This Article is written by Dennis Orji, the Chief Operations Officer at Bludel Technologies Limited. He is an Electronic Security Consultant and Advocate

Source http://www.fogsecure.com.ng/blog/nigeria-past-present-and-future-security-threats/