Employees
of Israeli defence electronics firm Elbit Systems have arrived in Abuja
to install a comprehensive spying facility that will assist the
Nigerian government in spying on citizens' online activities.
The
installation will be completed despite negative public reaction and
ongoing legislative probe of the project. Thus, the order of the
National Assembly to suspend all actions on the contract pending the
outcome of a planned investigation is being ignored. The officials of
the Elbit firm were accused by the Presidency of not being discreet
enough while handling the contract.
The
firm was secretly awarded a $40million contract to make it possible for
the Nigerian government to track citizens' Internet communications and
get the data from their computers - under the pretence of national
security and intelligence gathering.
Contract
According to the information available,
the Elbit firm announced it won the contract in April 2013. In a global
press release, the general manager Yehuda Vered disclosed that "Elbit
Systems will supply its Wise Intelligence Technology (WiT) system to an
unnamed country in Africa under a new $40 million contract … for
Intelligence Analysis and Cyber Defense."
Competent sources say the "Big Brother"
spying device is to be installed at the headquarters of the National
Intelligence Agency in Abuja.
It is also worth noting that about 20
Nigerian intelligence officers are currently training in Haifa, Israel –
headquarters of Elbit Systems – and are expected to run the spying
equipment after its installation. The first batch of the intelligence
trainees are due back in the country next week, the sources say.
The firm estimates it will take two
years to complete the project. In the end, Nigerian authorities will
possess "a highly advanced end-to-end solution to support every stage of
the intelligence process, including the collection of the data from
multiple sources, databases and sensors, processing of the information,
supporting intelligence personnel in the analysis and evaluation of the
information and disseminating the intelligence to the intended recipient
(…) that will be integrated with various data sources, including Elbit
Systems' Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) solution and Elbit Systems' PC
Surveillance Systems (PSS), an advance solution for covert intelligence
gathering."
The development has raised a lot of
concerns among the civil society and Nigerian lawmakers alike regarding
their privacy, as well as the fact that Nigerian intelligence data is
being collected by another country (Israel).
Money
Although Elbit Systems say the project
will cost Nigeria $40 million, sources say this is not all the money
released. It was indicated in the 2013 budget that the Wise Intelligence
Network Harvest Analyzer System, Open Source Internet Monitoring System
and Personal Internet Surveillance Systems would be procured at a price
of N9.496 Billion (about $61.26 million).
The fate of the additional $21.26 million is currently unknown.
Sources indicate, however, that the
contract was initially awarded to a security firm owned by a Nigerian
politician and businessman [name withheld]. The businessman and another supporter of President Jonathan are the superintendents of the project, the sources said.
Source: Premium Times
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