FG, Nigerian Intelligence Kick Over Another Security Alert By US

• Lai Mohammed slams report as ‘Mischievous, Counterproductive’

BY EDMOND ODOK – The Federal Government and stakeholders in Nigeria’s intelligence community have rejected the security alerts being issued by some foreign embassies in the country as clearly ‘mischievous and counterproductive’.

Consequently, the government is insisting that there are reasons to assume the numerous alerts, which are mostly disturbing and alarming, may have other hidden agenda.

The government and intelligence community position comes on the heels of another security alert statement released by the United States of America (USA) government tagged “Nigeria Level 3.”

In issuing its new ‘Travel Advisory’, the US government listed 14 states in Nigeria and warned their citizens to avoid visiting them for now to due to what it terms; “crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime”.

The states mentioned include: Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, and Gombe in North-East; and Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara in the Northwest. Others are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers states in South-South.

Interestingly, the list does not include any state from the North-Central, South-West and South-East geopolitical regions.

But strongly disapproving of what it described as unverified security alert messages, the Federal Government has slammed the Nigerian media outlets and social media personalities for spreading the security alerts without verifying their authenticity.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, led the charge in stating the government’s position when he featured on a ministerial panel at the ongoing UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Week.

Mr Mohammed spoke as a panelist at the UNESCO session with theme; “National Media and Information Literacy Frameworks, Sustaining Beyond Disinformation’’.

In his presentation at the session, moderated by Dr Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO, the Minister described the warning issued by the Embassies as not reflecting the true position of the security situation in the country.

Mr Mohammed, who noted that such unsubstantiated security alerts could create unnecessary tension and panic, also condemned the media outfits which fed on the unverified security alert to attract traffic to their site without considering the effects on the country.

While reiterating that the country “is safer today than at any time in recent times’’, with the efforts and sacrifices of the military and other security agencies, the Minister said the security forces had been proactive and as far as insecurity is concerned, the worst is over for Nigeria.

He also urged Nigerians not to panic but to be alert at all times, saying; “We do not discountenance the fact that terrorists, bandits and their kind would always want to do whatever it takes to disrupt our nation’s peace, security and stability.

“Well, I can assure all that our military and other security agencies have continued to do everything possible to secure and protect Nigerians and foreigners living in Nigeria.

“Terrorists have been hard hit and put on the run. Bandits have been decimated and scattered’’

On their part, members of the intelligence community maintained the alerts issued by the United Kingdom and United States Embassies, were meant to rubbish milestone strides made by it and other security agencies to keep the country safe and secured.

Insisting that things are going well despite existing and emerging security challenges, which are not peculiar to Nigeria, a member of the intelligence community, who preferred anonymity, said; “Already, the security agencies have performed exceeding well in recent times , in terms of interception of calls, arrest of terrorists commanders and elimination of their fighters.

“It is unfortunate that while we share security advisories with the embassies on the need for security consciousness, just as we occasionally announce in public statements, these foreign missions use the same to compromise our security efforts.

“What they did is deliberate, considering that we have been transparent and responsible in providing regular security advisory, especially as we are approaching an election year.

“They are aware that our recently upgraded military platforms and sophisticated digital technology tools have been assisting security agencies in curbing terrorism and violent crimes across the country.”

Stressing his points further, the source said; “There are certain successes recorded that cannot be publicly disclosed to avoid jeopardising or compromising national security.

“Since security matters are highly-strategic and confidential, we don’t go about explaining our vendors who supplied them or the processes and strategies to anyone or the media”.

Similarly, another source within the Nigerian Armed Forces, who is worried that the foreign missions are comprising national security and trying to project themselves as a shadow government, asked furiously; “Are they the ones to inform Nigerians about any kind of security threat in our land, when no other nation could do that in their countries?

“Now what have they achieved with the media frenzy that followed? They should know that it is not all intelligence operations that our security agencies must divulge. But that does not mean our security agencies are not on top of every security situation”. – With additional report from PRNigeria