— 30th April 2017
By Olakunle Olafioye

The discovery of funds in different currencies, amounting to about N13 billion reportedly given to the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA for covert intelligence operations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC a fortnight ago has put the nation’s spy agency under an unusual searchlight. In this interview, Dr Ona Ekhomu, a security expert examines the implications of the undue publicity the drama has generated for an agency which existence and operations are expected to be shrouded in secrecy.

The Nigeria Intelligence Agency is embroiled in a major crisis following the Ikoyi cash discovery. What does this portend for the nation’s security?
It is not a good sign for the security of the country because the NIA is a primary agency for foreign intelligence gathering in Nigeria and having to have their leaning aired in the open is not a very good development for the agency. It also denotes our immaturity as a people because it shows that we don’t understand the nature of the work of the agency, we don’t understand how this agency works and how the modern world works including the modern democratic states. We are taking too many liberties and we think that these liberties will make us safer or are equal to freedom but they are not. The intelligence world has certain ways in which it works. That you discovered $46 million in a house is absolutely nothing for a country of this size and of the budget of Nigeria. The fact is that when this agency has to work it must have access to resources needed in fast manner. They work in the dark. They are not subject to the kind of picture we are trying to paint whereby people are asking them to declare the money and questioning the agency on why the money has to be kept somewhere and all sort of unserious things people have been saying. But I think that is to be expected because people don’t understand the world of intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis and intelligence capitalization, which is use of intelligence. They are looking at it as akara and garri matter. But the point is that this is not akara and garri matter. We are talking about the security of the country. The people involved in this task travel a lot and have to pay for all kinds of things, which I am not going to mention because they do not fall within the public purview. And this is just the way it has been from time immemorial. That is the nature of the work of NIA. And I feel that we are compromising our national security by the kind of reckless comments and all kinds of unguarded utterances that are being made. But it doesn’t matter those comments are to be ignored and I am sure the agency does not even listen to them. The fact is that this fund should be required by the agency to be able to carry out its statutory mandate.

Are you suggesting that the agency should keep mute in spite of the controversy trailing it and isn’t it in its own interest to respond?
The agency needs not respond to the noise being made about it. If it does, then it means it is not a credible spy agency. NIA has no business responding to every beer parlour talk or every social media talk.

But if this is the nature of task the NIA is expected to perform, what do you think is responsible for the uproar about the discovered cash?
I don’t want to speculate about the suspension of the agency’s chief. I think when the ownership of the fund was confirmed, there was a feeling within the presidency that it should have been disclosed earlier that there was this fund for this particular purpose. But these people (NIA) are an appendage of the presidency, they work with the presidency, they work for the security of the Nigerian state and its people so there is no separation.  But there are certain things that are not just out there in the public domain to the extent that perhaps the President was not briefed. Maybe they feel he was embarrassed by not being briefed about the fund. But the President has been a head of state before now although NIA was formed after he was removed from office. However

Abi?

In their desperation to batter the image of Goodluck Jonathan and PDP, they threw caution to the winds and started counting money for CNN to view.

Now, the whole nations security secret is in the open, and Jonathan is resting in his house

The CIA is the most expensive intelligence agency in the world. If $45 million was discovered in a private appartment kept there by the CIA, believe me, there will be hell to pay so all these BS talk should be left to babies

Rubbish! So a private home is the safest place to keep such money so that it can be accessed quickly, right? I don't know what everyone is smoking these days.

The discovery and the investigation of the $43 million should have been handled descretely by EFCC instead of this public dance of shame. Now the nation is caught up on her sleeves. For people asking questions, forget it you won't get any answer because intelligence gathering is not for market square gossip.

bejeiodus:
Rubbish! So a private home is the safest place to keep such money so that it can be accessed quickly, right? I don't know what everyone is smoking these days.

oga, it's called a safe house...FYI even the US has a safe house in Nigeria that you don't know. Their system of operations is not as you expect it should go...Watch some foreign movies and see how covert operations are carried out.

I think EFCC was over-zealous with their actions, the same way DSS did with the judges and EFCC were not happy. Nothing stops them from storming the building, remove the cash and keep in their custody pending an official clarification from their sister agency. Where not satified they can report to the president and further seek his approval to transfer same fund to their recovery account; since both agencies are under his purview. It's bad blood rubbuishing our NIA and trust me those guys will dig Magu out.

No need to fool the public . While I agreed with the man on the secret world of intelligence activities, we should not carry it to the extreme and get loose. Nothing so special in having safe house or safe window even for those of us operating in private capacity in Nigeria and overseas but the "need to know" aspect of the work must not be compromised. The NSA going with the panel work is not fully captured in the matters . There is politics in even intelligence works ,you can write a report and clean out the "meat" which is the full account of the money .
Secondly the awkward way of managing the safe house call into question the purpose of the money kept there . A woman was always in the picture bringing Ghana must go bag into the place . The woman happens to be the wife of the DG. The question is ,are there no trusted female operative ? Why the need to involved the wife in matters of cash ,what stops us from concluding that even senstive information is in the hand of the wife.
Why are you using such a open residential place and is there a conicidence that powerful people in government and out of government are living there . Why don't you make usee of the NIA facility or the CBN or create a special safe with a Bank . Of what application are the campaign posters of Jonathan in the place or the posters are meant to do a magic work in intelligence.
While intelligence activities and the funding is in the dark ,it must also follow the agency established process . I don't know where OKE got his own style from by messing around with raw cash. There is a element fo fraud in the whole process . My take is that government should not go to far in probing the agency but the DG must be sack and the agency reorganised. The suspended DG is not a season intelligence operative but a political contractor.

The NIA is just an agency used by the government to launder public funds

They don't carry out any specific intelligent gathering or investigations
The only functional intelligence agency we have is the dss

An intelligence agency that couldn't get firsthand information about an impending raid on its "special safe

An intelligence agency keeping billions in an unguarded "Amaechi apartment

An intelligence agency disgracing the intelligence of Nigerians in the international community

Only the dumb and clueless look of ayodele oke explains how intelligent the NIA is

While i agree with some points raised above i still think we should not conclude on him yet. It's possible this funds were released during the electionnering period no doubt which could be the reason for Jonathan posters where found there but that does not say anything about the funds. Why? because before the election there were apprehensions everywhere and possible external aggression on the country should the opposition part win. Also, we don't have an evidence the woman bringing in the cash was his wife? It could also be an operative...That the building belongs to his wife doesn't mean she was the person bringing in the cash it could be his girlfriend sef! So i maintain the approach has flawed the result...A smart NIA operative will free himself off this issue even if the person was wrong. Our operatives should be patience to gather irreputable evidences before action

ejibaba:


oga, it's called a safe house...FYI even the US has a safe house in Nigeria that you don't know. Their system of operations is not as you expect it should go...Watch some foreign movies and see how covert operations are carried out.

u dey mind am all he know is garri n groundnuts gist.

What a disgraceful write up by a corruption apologist.

Every tom,seek and harry has an opinion..if una put them there now..they will be worse!!!

if the NIA truly owns that money, then it was too much to be kept in one poorly guarded location.

such agencies have multiple safe houses & keep sums that are for emergence purposes.

the security experts position would have been tenable if the amount found was less than $500,000.00. which is still much, but can be easily explained off as operational expenses.

methinks the NIA chief was using his position to warehouse funds for various top politicians with the assurance that no one dare question his activities while he gets a healthy kick back.

.

Mynd44:
The CIA is the most expensive intelligence agency in the world. If $45 million was discovered in a private appartment kept there by the CIA, believe me, there will be hell to pay so all these BS talk should be left to babies

CIA would have killed the story before it gets into the media, or before it is leaked to the public.

laudate:


CIA would have killed the story before it gets into the media, or before it is leaked to the public.

You need to stop watching movies biko

Mynd44:
You need to stop watching movies biko

Why? You think CIA is like our own NIA?