Almost all recent governors of the South South region of Nigeria followed the steps of the governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson, who used to hack phones and intercept communication of political peers and rivals in Nigeria.
According to an ongoing Premium Times investigation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers state governor; Godswill Akpabio, former Akwa Ibom state governor; and Emmanuel Uduaghan, former Delta state governor, illegally acquired technologies that allowed them conduct mass surveillance and hack people’s gadgets, mainly to eavesdrop on their conversations, know who they talked with and what their plans were.
These three politicians exited office as governors in May, following the end of their second term in office.
Reportedly, most of the hacking carried out by the governors occurred within the last four years. Some officials of the State Security Service (SSS) allegedly colluded with the governors as they engaged in massive hacking, helping disguise their acts as federal security projects.
The Premium Times reports that officials at the office of the National Security Adviser admitted that the governors claimed they were using the hicking devises to track kidnappers.
“The governors claimed they were carrying out the operations with the SSS, but our investigations showed they were running it from their offices,” officials at the office of the National Security Adviser said.
Further investigation has shown that the governors’ claims that they were hacking phones to track kidnappers were false. While the governors allegedly targeted political superiors, associates and peers using the SSS to disguise the expedition as approved national security projects.
Some politicians and businessmen from the affected states said they knew all along that these governors monitored their communications illegally.
According to a contractor from Akwa Ibom, Governor Akpabio refused to pay him for the project after he tapped his phone and overheard some critical comments he made about the former governor to some friends.
“He once boasted to me that he knew what I was doing and what I was saying about him,” the contractor said. Details on the Permium Times.
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