The Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary, Mr. Richard Pheelangwah, on Wednesday continued his familiarization tour of agencies under the Ministry with visit to the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), canvassing for enhanced use of cutting edge technology in intelligence gathering.
In a meeting with the leadership of the agency, Mr Pheelangwah acknowledged the commitment and professionalism of their personnel towards safeguarding the country and its citizens.
He underscored their crucial role in intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing and strong interagency collaboration within and among security agencies, which have been instrumental to the successes recorded in the fight against terrorism, banditry and other security threats being faced by the country.
Attributing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “visionary leadership” to the strides of the agency, Pheelangwah reiterated the importance of DIA in planning of security concerns, enjoining them to continually adapt cutting edge technologies to be up to date and speed, so as to always meet up with current challenges.
He also noted that highly skilled, well trained and welfare of the workforce should be paramount for the agency in order to boost personnel’s morale.
A statement by Queenet Iheoma-Hart of the Ministry of Defence Directorate of Press and Public Relations noted that the Permanent Secretary praised the resilience of personnel working at DIA, reaffirming the Ministry’s determination to strengthening capabilities of DIA to continue to work for the country.
In his response, the Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency (CDI), Lieutenant General Emmanuel Parker Undiandeye stated that the meeting was a good opportunity to inform the audience of the interconnected roles within the intelligence community.
According to him, collaboration is critical for protecting the nation from threats such as terrorism, extremism, kidnappings, and cybercrime.
Highlighting the role of Defence Intelligence Agency as the nation seeks to proactively prevent and liquidate threats posed to Nigeria, General Undiandeye said “the Agency’s proactive approach is aimed at providing early warnings to armed forces and security agencies.”
For him, the deployment of human, technical, and liaison resources ensures staying ahead of adversaries, adding that accuracy and precision in intelligence operations are key.
Despite major constraints of limited capacity, equipment shortages, and funding issues, Undiandeye revealed some milestone achievements of the Agency such as, minimal complaints of unintended targeting in the past two years, minimized human rights abuses and civilian casualties.
He also revealed that Training, Technology, and Preventive Intelligence have remained priorities for the agency, as no fewer than 1,300 personnel have been trained in intelligence and related skills. Furthermore,
Lieutenant General Undiandeye noted that preventive and proactive intelligence work of the Agency has improved due to technological advancements, noting that the secret of the Agency’s successful outcomes lies with its ability to combine multiple technologies.
While commending Mr. President and the Ministers of Defence for their support in securing some funding, he
appealed for additional resources to cover staff living expenses at defense missions, adequate and timely release of operational funds for local operations and acquisition of new operational platforms.
Present at the event are the Directors from the Ministry and the DIA and the principal staff officers of the agency.
