General News
DSS Spyware Acquisition Enables Illegal Wiretaps, Detentions – The ICIR
Department of State Services (DSS), statutory known as the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s premier domestic intelligence agency has reportedly acquired spyware that enables it illegally wiretap and detains citizens.
According to a report by The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR), court filings and victim testimonies reviewed by it in the course its investigation revealed how spyware equipment acquired by Nigeria’s secret police for “national security” has become an instrument for illegal wiretapping.
In Nigeria, unlawful phone tapping and wiretapping are serious crimes as they violate privacy rights unless authorized by a judge.
The ICIR, an independent, non-profit news agency that promotes transparency and accountability through robust and objective investigative reporting in its report said the DSS, targets are monitored in secret, picked up, and hauled into horrible detention camps without trial dates or accountability.
Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution protects the privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, and telephone conversations.
But in exceptions, under the Constitution and the Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations 2019, authorized agencies (like the DSS and Police) can only intercept communications with a valid court order or warrant for reasons of national security or public safety.
Here is the full The ICIR report:
FIRST, the phones pinged. Then the knocks came. For suspects apprehended by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) since 2021 and taken to the military detention facility at Wawa, a border town in Niger State, the pattern was identical: strange calls, dropped signals, then arrests without warrants.
Court filings and victim testimonies reviewed by The ICIR in this investigation reveal how spyware equipment acquired by Nigeria’s secret police for “national security” has become an instrument for illegal wiretapping.
Targets are monitored in secret, picked up, and hauled into horrible detention camps without trial dates or accountability.
He sounded like a fan from America
On his way to Abuja from Abia State, a social media critic, Saheed Jamilu, got a call from a strange number.
The caller claimed to be a fan of his based in the United States who once lived in Abia.
“He hailed me and professed love for the South-East,” Jamilu said in a viral Facebook video. The caller later advised him to “soft-pedal” criticism of leaders, including the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun.
Thirty minutes later, Jamilu checked the number.
Curiously, it carried a Nigerian code, not that of the U.S.
“It occurred to me something was fishy. I shared the number with my lawyer for verification. We later confirmed the caller was from the DSS,” Jamilu said.
He wondered why the secret police would chase critics instead of kidnappers holding hostages in forests across Nigeria.
Stories like his have flooded the social media space in Nigeria.
Activists and content creators, including the popular VDM (Very Dark Man), allege DSS surveillance and threats of arrest.
Where is ‘Blood’?
For lawyer Pius Awoke, 49, student Onyibe Chinonso, 34, and builder Nwocha Chinedu, 43, it was not an online alarm.
It was years of unspeakable horrors in detention.
On a wet Thursday morning in June 2021, along the Abuja-Lokoja highway, their Enugu-bound Sienna was flagged down near the Murtala Mohammed Bridge close to Lokoja.
Soldiers manning a checkpoint said the DSS had ordered a stop for a suspected IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) member.
Fifteen minutes later, plainclothes operatives arrived in an unmarked SUV. Among the eight passengers in the intercepted Sienna, the trio were ordered out and forced to surrender their phones.
Awoke recalled: “One operative brought out a paper and started dialling numbers with each phone. ‘Where is Blood?’ they barked, searching for a contact.”
Chinonso said they repeated the dialling three times and found nothing. After body and vehicle searches, the operatives began beating them.
“They kept beating and asking us ‘who is Blood?’ while we showed ID cards. After five hours of torture, they handcuffed us and took us to their Lokoja office,” Chinonso recalled.
The next day, they were ferried to DSS headquarters, Abuja, with face masks, phones and money seized. They were dumped in an underground cell called “Basement-2.”
Chinonso said one of the operatives, Jonah Daniel, urinated in a bottle and sprinkled it on their heads. “After that, our legs were chained together. We were kept incommunicado in a dark, cold, unventilated cell for two days,” he said.
Torture at the ‘Hell’ called Wawa
Wawa Military Cantonment in Borgu LGA, Niger State, near Benin Republic, is used for training and operations.
However, some ex-detainees told The ICIR that their ordeals in the hands of the DSS ended with detention at Wawa, describing it as “hell.”
For full details go to https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-dss-spyware-acquisition-enables-illegal-wiretaps-and-detentions/
Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) has warned of possible floods in parts of Adamawa, Bauchi, Edo, Imo, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, Benue, and Borno states within the next seven days.
According to information posted on NIHSA X handle, the Agency announced medium flood advisory in force for the next 7 days across Adamawa, Bauchi, and 11 other States.
“Localised inundation is forecast along the main channel; named communities below sit on the projected footprint. Stations: Saminara on the Karam river, Waya Dam Site on the Waya river, Amber on the Amber river.
“Adamawa; Lemsa, Lamurde, Numan Exposure: 147 comm. 49 schis 40 hith 6 mkts17 relig. Bauchi-Bauchi, Ningi, Shira. Exposure: 4 comm. Kaduna; Chikun, Giwa, Igabi, Jaba, Jema’a, Kachia, Kaura, Kauru, +6 more. Exposure: 1 comm.
“Borno-Gubio, Mobbar. Exposure: 680 comm. 8 schls 6 hith 5 mkts 21 relig. Edo-Akoko-Ed, EtsakoEa, EtsakoWe, Ikpoba-Okha, Orhionmw, OviaNort, OviaSo.. Exposure: 3 comm.
“Imo-Aboh-Mba, Oguta, Ohaji/Eg, Okigwe, Owerri North, Owerri West. Exposure: 3 comm. 7 more states affected and severity LGAs”.
NIHSA advised people in the affected areas to “do NOT cross flooded roads, bridges, or fast-moving water on foot or by vehicle.
“Clear drainage channels and river-mouth blockages; avoid building or living in the floodplain and move people, livestock and valuables from the floodplain to pre-identified higher ground,” NIHSA stated.
General News
First Trustees Advocates Estate Planning as an Essential Tool in Every Wealth Creation Strategy
First Trustees Limited, a subsidiary of FirstHoldCo Plc., and a leading provider of fiduciary and trusteeship services in Nigeria, is encouraging individuals, professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors to view Estate Planning not as an end-of-life exercise, but as a strategic investment tool for protecting, preserving, and transferring wealth across generations.
As more Nigerians focus on wealth creation through businesses, real estate investments, and other income-generating assets, experts are emphasizing that building wealth is only one part of the equation.
Equally important is creating structures that ensure those assets remain protected, properly managed, and seamlessly transferred to succeeding generations in accordance with the asset owner’s wishes. Importantly, Estate Planning is not solely for the wealthy, it is a prudent step for anyone with assets, dependants, or a business to protect, regardless of age, profession, or net worth.
Speaking on the importance of Estate Planning, Ereifemi Akeredolu, Managing Director/CEO, First Trustees Limited, noted that Estate Planning should be considered a core pillar of every long-term financial strategy.
“Many people focus on creating wealth but give litle thought to preserving it. Estate Planning is a wealth protection strategy that helps individuals safeguard their assets, secure their family’s future, and ensure that the value they build today continues to benefit future generations.”
Using tools such as Trusts, Wills, and advanced succession plans, individuals can build structures that support wealth preservation, business continuity, asset protection, and intergenerational wealth transfer.
For entrepreneurs and business owners, Estate Planning serves as a powerful tool for ensuring business sustainability, helping organizations remain stable and operational regardless of unforeseen circumstances.
First Trustees continues to emphasize and educate on the importance of Estate Planning as a comprehensive strategy for proactive planning. It remains one of the most important financial decisions an individual can make: it provides clarity, minimizes uncertainty, and protects assets from unnecessary erosion and disputes. It also creates financial security for loved ones, supports business succession and continuity, and facilitates long-term investment and legacy planning.
General News
Nearpays, Nigerian Fintech Becomes First African Startup to Win UN’s AI for Good Innovation Factory
Nearpays, Nigerian fintech, has won the AI for Good Innovation Factory grand finale — the first African startup ever to take the global title in the competition, which runs as part of the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit.
The competition drew more than 500 startups worldwide, each pitching AI solutions aimed at social and economic challenges.
The summit itself is organised by the UN through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in partnership with several UN agencies, convening governments, researchers, startups, and technology companies around AI’s role in development.
Nearpays’ route to the title ran through Johannesburg, where it won the African regional competition, before advancing to the global finals in Geneva.
There, the company progressed through the semi-finals and claimed the grand finale — a first for the continent.
The company describes the win as bigger than a corporate milestone, calling it a victory for African innovation and proof that technology built to solve local problems can compete, and win, on the world stage.
Nearpays was founded to close a stubborn gap in African payments: small and medium-sized businesses that can’t afford or access traditional point-of-sale terminals.
Cost, availability, and deployment hurdles have kept many merchants — particularly in rural and underserved communities — locked out of digital payments.
Its answer is SoftPOS: an AI-powered platform that turns compatible Android smartphones into payment acceptance devices, letting merchants take contactless card payments with nothing more than their phones. AI is embedded across the platform, supporting payment processing, compliance, fraud detection, and business operations.
Crucially, the platform was built for African infrastructure realities — it works both online and offline, so merchants can keep accepting payments even without internet connectivity.
The company credited its team’s years of product development and customer engagement for the result, and thanked the UN, the ITU, and the AI for Good initiative for building a platform where innovators can apply AI to real-world problems.
It also said it hopes the win encourages more African founders to build technology that answers local needs while competing internationally.
For Nearpays, the title closes one chapter and opens another, as the company pushes on with expanding digital financial infrastructure across Afric
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