There May Be Terrorists’ Agents in Nigerian Army, Police — Presidency

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has said it is possible that terrorist sympathisers may have infiltrated the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force.

Bwala made the remarks during The Link Up Podcast, a panel discussion hosted by EchoRoom and published on Friday, while responding to a question on whether the nation’s security agencies had been infiltrated by terrorist agents.

According to him, such infiltration cannot be completely ruled out, noting that security personnel have previously been arrested for allegedly collaborating with terrorist groups.

“You cannot rule out the fact that they may have one or two agents in the army, or anywhere else,” Bwala said.

“Our police officers have been arrested, and soldiers have also been arrested for involvement in these kinds of activities.”

He explained that incidents of infiltration are not unique to Nigeria, citing the case of Edward Snowden, the former United States intelligence contractor who leaked classified information from the US National Security Agency.

“These things can happen anywhere in the world. Snowden was a contractor to the US National Security Agency. These are situations that can occur,” he said.

Bwala, however, declined to provide further details, saying the government was already implementing measures to address the issue.

“That is why I don’t want to speak much about it because there are measures we are taking, and we do not want people to know,” he added.

The presidential aide did not disclose the specific measures being implemented but maintained that the Federal Government remained committed to strengthening national security and tackling terrorism.

His comments come amid ongoing efforts by security agencies to combat insurgency, banditry and other violent crimes across different parts of the country.

The Federal Government has repeatedly assured Nigerians that it is intensifying intelligence gathering, inter-agency collaboration and military operations to dismantle terrorist networks and improve national security.