Wiretapping NSA Ribadu’s Phone Means Nigeria’s Intelligence, Strategy In Public Domain – Experts

Security experts have lamented the alleged wiretapping of the phone number of the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, by private individuals.

A security expert, Dr Kabir Adamu, warned that the claims by former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, of wiretapping the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s phone, mean the nation’s intelligence and security strategies were in the public domain.

Dr Kabir Adamu, the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, said personalities such as the NSA, CDI, DG SSS, and others in the intelligence community ought not to be using ordinary GSM-enabled phones to discuss national issues.

Recall that El-Rufai had, during an appearance on Arise News, disclosed that he and his associates eavesdropped on NSA Ribadu’s phone conversation, where Ribadu ordered his arrest.

This comes after El-Rufai’s altercation with security agents at Abuja Airport while returning from a foreign trip.

In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP, Adamu wondered why someone occupying the position of NSA would be using a global system for mobile communication (GSM) enabled phone instead of a technical counter-surveillance measure (TCSM).

He said, “What kind of phone does the NSA use? As far as I know, it’s a GSM-enabled phone, the same type we use. And I’ve said this countless times before: GSM is as vulnerable as if you’re in the market and you say something, so anyone can pick up conversations on GSM. Same thing on WhatsApp.

“In the field of intelligence, there’s what we call technical counter-surveillance measures, TCSM”.

He explained that TCSM are measures taken to prevent eavesdropping by hostile intelligence agencies.

“And I must say that in Nigeria, our TCSM is almost zero in public offices. You remember after the NSA was sworn in, there was a video of him in March, where he was begging some foreign dignitaries, I think at the UN, to come and help us.

That was the first time that we should have taken the hint that something was wrong. “The vulnerabilities around the NSA are so huge, and it’s embarrassing for me as a professional security practitioner. It is extremely embarrassing that one of the highest offices in the coordination element of our national security apparatus has those kinds of vulnerabilities”.

He stated further, “I hope this statement by El-Rufai is a wake-up call and it leads us to do the necessary to enhance TCSM capabilities. My organisation, Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, is available and can help support not just the NSA, but a lot of our public office holders to enhance their TCSM capabilities.”

He added that several other sensitive position holders are also vulnerable in the global communication space.

A former Director of the Department of State Services, Barr. Mike Ejiofor said El-Rufai’s eavesdropping on the NSA Ribadu’s phone conversation is both criminal and a dangerous precedent.

He said that, aside from the NSA, no one has the right to listen to anyone’s private phone conversation except security agencies, even then, only with a court order.

He lamented why the NSA would discuss sensitive security issues on an unprotected phone if it were true.

“It’s dangerous and criminal if he was able to listen to the conversation as claimed. Only security agencies with court orders can tap anybody’s phone.”

A Security Consultant, Dr Abdullahi Muhammed Jabi, who is the Director Media and Publicity, International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS), said El-Rufai’s revelation validates claims that there are moles within the system sabotaging government efforts by leaking sensitive information to enemies of the state.

He said such actions may have been responsible for successful ambushes on troops and military bases.

He said, “It is not good for us at all. We have always said that there are moles within and outside the arm of government. The issue of insecurity is not just what people are looking at with levity. El-Rufai just walked into the trap.

“He has long been a suspect. Since he was denied access to the ministerial nomination, he never forgave this government. He feels he is the new bride of the north who will anchor civil unrest as a result of what is happening in the country. So I have no sympathy for him.

“Because what he did in a developed society, in the security parlance, we call it espionage, is a capital punishment by death. That is the extent of the gravity of the statement he made in public media”.

He noted that the former Governor is least expected to make such a statement, having occupied sensitive positions and been surrounded by controversies.

“That means all the effort of the federal government over the last decade is in futility as a result of leakages. And that is why most of our military men in the line of action were killed through ambushes. This further reveals the kinds of people that are within the military circles, revealing such information to enemies of the state”.

He noted that, although El-Rufai may not be directly involved, it shows that the nation’s intelligence is not secure and needs an overhaul.

“It may not be directly. He may have a source. And if you see, even the way he said it on television, he said, as the government has access, in tapping into other people’s discussions, they too have their own tools and equipment through which they tap into government information. And you know, it is only the government that can tap into individuals or corporate bodies to know exactly what they are doing and thinking. However, for an individual in an insecure society that we are in these last decades, and a former minister, a former DG, a former governor, two-time governor for that matter, to have come out to say this, I mean, it is a suicidal statement. Least expected of a personality of El-Rufai”.

A former Nigerian Defence Attache to Russia and Former NAF Spokesman AvM Olatokunbo Adesanya Rtd, the claims, if proven, do not augur well for the nation’s security.

This, he said, is due to the sensitive nature of the national security adviser’s office.

“If the claim is indeed proven, it does not augur well for the security architecture of the Nation as a whole, considering the unique position of the NSA.

“Communications Security is central to the success of all military operations and not just counterinsurgency efforts. Nevertheless, the emphasis remains on, if proven, because claims are sometimes different from reality. I would of course not want to be drawn into the possible politics of the matter,” he said.