Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,165,710 members, 7,862,251 topics. Date: Sunday, 16 June 2024 at 12:16 PM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Leakage Of Classified Documents Rattles Government (595 Views)
Facts And Documents Why Atiku Abubakar Can't Travel To America... Pictures / 98% Of Documents In Crude Sale Transactions Fake - NNPC / Police Carted Away 2017 Budget Documents, Goje Tells Senate (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
Leakage Of Classified Documents Rattles Government by peteregwu(m): 12:49pm On Feb 01, 2017 |
Police expand Interpol anti-crime network
There are concerns in the nation’s security circles over the
incessant leakage of official secrets to the public. The
Guardian’s inquiry revealed that official documents in the
country are categorised into restricted, confidential and top
secrets, in order to ensure information is controlled within the
classified space.
But recent events indicate that classified government memos
are being leaked, exposing the country to espionage and
unhindered access to political, economic, military and other
forms of information about Nigeria by foreign competitors.
Section (1) sub (2) of the Official Secret Act says that “A
public officer who fails to comply with any instructions given
to him on behalf of the government as to the safeguarding of
any classified matter which by virtue of his office is obtained
by him or under his control is guilty of an offence.”
It was learnt that recently, many government communication
documents are not classified, even if their exposure can lead
to the compromise of national security.
Ostensibly worried about the nonchalance by civil servants,
an internal memo was circulated by the Assistant Director
(Media) in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the
Federation (HoCSF) Mohammed Manga in 2015 to all
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) directing all
civil servants to avoid sanctions by ensuring that classified
documents were handled with utmost confidentiality.
The circular read in part: “Some officers are in the habit of
using classified government documents, including those of
the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for purposes outside of
what is required, even though the classified documents, as
the name implies, were graded as restricted, confidential,
secret or top secret and contain information not meant for
public consumption. Exposing such information to the public
might have an adverse effect on national security.”
These lapses also show the low level of awareness of civil
servants about national security and the need for capacity
building in the public sector to increase operational
efficiency.
Reacting to the issue, a retired intelligence officer now a
practising security expert, Samson Ogochin said the civil
servants had set aside the categorisation by the government.
“They just distribute documents without minding how they
are delineated. That is the level of confidentiality at which
the document should be handled. That is probably the
problem, because if you don’t categorise it, it would be
treated as an ordinary document,” he said.
Kabir Adamu, chief executive Officer of Beacon Security
said: “Depending on the clearance you have, there are limits
to which document you can access. That, for me, is the
beginning of the awareness by civil servants. There appears
to be a failure of such a policy to safeguard such documents,
despite the presence of the relevant departments like counter-
intelligence in the Department of State Services (DSS) to
ensure that government documents are appropriately
protected,” he said.
For Muyiwa Adegbegba, government documents, even
confidential ones, are not being handled well. “One
understands that development and innovations have made it
easy to obtain information without going through the formal
procedure. Still, more needs to be done. You find vital
government documents used in
wrapping akara (beans cake) with all the information still
intact.
“So the absence of a functional government policy on
appropriate sanctions for erring officers or the non-
implementation of the policy is the reason for the exposure,”
Adegbegba said.
On how it affects the nation, Adamu stated that besides the
embarrassment it causes government, economic espionage is
another consequence.
“Right now the biggest type of espionage that is being
perpetrated is economic espionage. You cannot leave
yourself open while competing in the larger space, like the
competition between the economies of South Africa and
Nigeria.”
Some stakeholders suggested making a legislation or
reviewing the public service rules to spell out stiffer
sanctions on errant staff.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts to secure the nation against
transnational crimes, the Nigeria Police Force has expanded
the Interpol I-24/7 global communication system to link other
security and law enforcement agencies in the country.
The I-24/7 communication system network, developed by the
International Criminal Police Organisation (ICPO), otherwise
called INTERPOL, connects the 190-member countries of the
oganisation worldwide. It enables authorised users to share
sensitive and urgent police information with their
counterparts around the globe, 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, with the ability to search and cross-check data in
seconds.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris launched
the newly refurbished National Centre Bureau (NCB) at the
Force Headquarters in Abuja yesterday, where the expansion
and extension of the I-24/7 network system to other law
enforcement agencies, ministries and departments in Nigeria,
was enhanced.
Idris said the timing of the initiative was apt, “considering
that adequate synergy and collaboration is required now more
than ever to check the menace of criminalities within the
country and transnational organised crimes.”
Facilitated by INTERPOL Systems Consultants, Chukwu
Udensi-led Sheik and Bishops Company, the expansion to
agencies like the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) at the
borders, will facilitate direct access to databases on suspected
criminals or wanted persons, stolen and lost travel
documents, stolen vehicles, fingerprints and DNA profiles.
The IGP said it was one of the pivotal instruments designed
to actualise his vision of securing the nation and ensuring the
safety of lives and property of Nigerians. Guardian news |
(1) (Reply)
Why Colonial Masters Refused To Educate The North – Emir Sanusi / Fashola Disowns #2billion Planted In Housing Ministry Budget / Breaking!! President Buhari Is Still Alive
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 33 |