Connect with us

Defence and Security

Insecurity: ISWAP’s High-Speed Internet Access, Experiment With Drones Worrisome – Bukarti

Published

2 years ago

on

ISWAP
Share

A Senior Fellow, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Bulama Bukarti, has raised the alarm over the acquisition of high-speed Internet access by the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) and its drone experiments for intelligence-gathering and possible combat.

Bukarti made the disturbing revelations during a live appearance on the Friday edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“There are very worrying developments in Africa, including in the Lake Chad region, where we have the IS affiliate, ISWAP — that is, Islamic State’s West Africa Province — upping its capacity,” he said.

“And that’s because it is getting money, it is getting training, it is getting guidance from ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Part of the most worrying developments we have seen, as far as the use of the Internet or the use of technology is concerned, are two.”

In the past few months, Bukarti stated, security intelligence has been gathered showing that ISWAP has successfully been able to improve their access to the Internet.

“Before now, when ISWAP would want to use the Internet to post communication or to download something, they would need to go to cities like Maiduguri and they would struggle for hours to get access to the Internet,” he said.

“But from the last few months, we started getting evidence showing that ISWAP has now started to get access to Thuraya, that is, satellite Internet services were provided by Thuraya.

“They are buying them from Lagos and then from Chad, and therefore, they now have high-speed Internet connectivity in the remote areas of the Lake Chad region. They are using it to communicate; they are using it to coordinate attacks.”

The security expert disclosed that the insurgents had a vehicle with Thuraya Internet hardware mounted used while carrying out attacks to communicate with terrorists in other locations, including Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ISIS operatives across the world.

“The second worrying development has to do with ISWAP’s use of drones,” Bukarti revealed. “ISWAP started using drones like five years ago.

“We saw in the videos, their fighters trying to fly the small commercial drones and they were laughing; they were shocked at how it was flying, and then they started using it for their propaganda.”

According to the security expert, the insurgents would take drone footage of their attacks as well as drone photos of their fighters and use them for their propaganda, in addition to gathering intelligence on the military.

“In one attack, for example, before they attacked, they took a drone photo of a military base they were going to attack and then they attacked when they saw what was inside,” he said.

Bukarti further stated that the third phase of the ongoing development had to do with ISWAP trialling arming delivery drones.

“They have started to experiment how to put explosives on those drones and if they’ve succeeded in doing that, then we would start to see attacks unfortunately from the air, which would not require any fighters or suicide bombers and that would be deadly and would prolong the crisis in the Lake Chad region,” he explained.

Describing the development as “a very worrying development,” the security expert highlighted the need for the Federal Government to redouble its efforts to investigate where ISWAP was getting the Internet and drones from, as well as ensuring that the supply routes are blocked.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Defence and Security

Senate Confirms Appointment Of Oluyede As COAS

Published

3 weeks ago

on

December 3, 2024

By

Major General Olufemi Oluyede
Share

The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede for appointment as Chief of Army Staff.

The confirmation today followed the consideration of reports by the Chairman of the sense committee on Army, Sen. Yar’ adua, Abdulaziz Musa (Katsina Central).

The committee’s recommendations were unanimously adopted by the upper chamber.

Lieutenant General Oluyede was appointed to act as the Chief of Army Staff following the illness and subsequent death of Lt. Gen. Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja.

 

Continue Reading

Defence and Security

Tinubu Appoints New DG for NIA, DSS

Published

4 months ago

on

August 26, 2024

By

President Bola Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Share

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed is the new Director-General of the NIA.

Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi is the new Director-General of the DSS.

This is contained in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale Special Adviser to the President, Media & Publicity

The statement reads : “Ambassador Mohammed has had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.

He had served in various roles, culminating in his promotion to the rank of Director and his subsequent appointment as the head of the Nigerian mission to Libya”

“The 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, had served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House, Abuja”

“The new DSS Director-General, Mr.

Adeola Ajayi, rose through the ranks to attain his current post of Assistant Director-General of the Service. He had, at various times, served as State Director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi”

“The new appointments follow the resignation of the previous NIA and DSS chiefs”

“President Tinubu expects that the new security chiefs will work assiduously to reposition the two intelligence agencies for better results and charges them to bring their experience to bear in tackling the security challenges bedeviling the country through enhanced collaboration with sister agencies and in surgical alignment with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The President thanks the outgoing Directors-General of the two pivotal intelligence agencies for their services to the nation while wishing them success in their future endeavours”

 

Continue Reading

Defence and Security

Army Has No Desire To Truncate Nigeria’s Democracy — COAS

Published

10 months ago

on

March 5, 2024

By

Chief of Army Staff
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja
Share

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Tuesday, restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to defend the nation’s choice of government, democracy.

Addressing participants at a seminar on career planning and management organised by the Army headquarters, the COAS said the Army has no plans to truncate democracy in the country.

He charged officers of the Nigerian Army to remain above board in the discharge of their professional duties.

“Permit me to seize this opportunity to reiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, particularly the Nigerian Army has come to terms with the country’s choice of democracy as the preferred system of governance,” he said during his address to officers.

“We are therefore agents of democracy and have no desire to truncate it. The Nigerian Army will continue to defend our constitution and not suspend it for whatever reason.

“It is the duty of our elected leaders to lead while the military does its job as enshrined in our constitution. Nigerian Army personnel must therefore remain professional and be above board as they discharge their constitutional duties.”

The commitment by the COAS followed the series of putsches in West and Central Africa which have experienced at least seven military takeovers in the last four years.

Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger Republic — all members of the Economic Community of Western African States ( ECOWAS) — have pulled out from the regional bloc in last four years. Outside of West Africa, Chad and Sudan also experienced military coups in 2021.

 

Continue Reading