Terrorists Have Always Been In Cyberspace – Max Gbanite

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A security consultant, Mr Max Gbanite, has thrown his weight behind the Nigerian military’s recent announcement that it was moving the war on terror to the cyberspace.

Mr Gbanite noted that the terrorists have always been in the cyberspace but much attention was not paid to it because getting them “off the ground” had been the priority all the while.

“Look Boko Haram has intelligence, they have brilliant people working with laptops taking money from banks, financing their operations. It is just that we need to migrate to that fight.

“But do we have enough intelligence and commitment to fight the war in the cyber? That is another question. Is the military funded to take this war into the cyberspace?

“They (terrorists) have proven that they can hack into any system in this country and show private documents of any Nigerian to the media and pretend it is an expose or investigative journalism.

“So it is proper for the Nigerian military to look into this. It is an innovation and part of the new development all over the world.”

In analyzing the gains in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, Mr Gbanite acknowledged the improvement since the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai.

He recalled that the situation was bad enough to force the then Nigerian government to postpone the 2015 general elections but a more determined effort; new strategies and operational activities, have led to the improvement.

New Strategies

Mr Gbanite agreed with the claims by the military that it has succeeded in ensuring that the Boko Haram have become unable to lay claims to holding any Nigerian territories.

“We no longer see Boko Haram taunting our military. Our military have become the hunters and Boko Haram have become on the run,” he said, commending the rescue of several captives of the terrorists.

However, the implication of the success, according to the counter-terrorism expert is that the insurgents have also devised new approaches to their operations and this requires that Nigeria also changes tactics.

“Boko Haram is like a chameleon, they have gone back to asymmetry.

“They have developed new shaheeds. A shaheed is a suicide bomber. So we must attack their mindsets, we must change the narratives to degrade the recruitment of shaheeds in the Boko Haram,” he said.

He called on the media to further support the efforts of the security agencies by making their platforms available to publish the names and faces of suspected terrorists.

He also expressed hope that the newly appointed Acting Inspector-General of Police would build on the improvements recorded by former IGP Solomon Arase in the area of intelligence policing.