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167-430: The National Security Organization (NSO) of Nigeria , or Nigerian Security Organization , was created under Decree number 27 of 1976 by the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo , after the failed Dimka coup which claimed the life of former Head of State General Murtala Mohammed . The NSO was given a mandate of co-ordinating Internal Security , Foreign Intelligence and counterintelligence activities. It

334-498: A civil war from 1967 to 1970, followed by a succession of military dictatorships and democratically elected civilian governments until achieving a stable government in the 1999 Nigerian presidential election , with the election of Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party . However, the country frequently experiences electoral fraud , and corruption is rampant in various levels of Nigerian politics. Nigeria

501-538: A megacity like Lagos and other major Nigerian cities which are linked with economic development, population growth and the inability of municipal councils to manage the resulting rise in industrial and domestic waste. This waste management problem is also attributable to unsustainable environmental management lifestyles of Kubwa community in the Federal Capital Territory, where there are habits of indiscriminate disposal of waste, dumping of waste along or into

668-494: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.2/10, ranking it 82nd globally out of 172 countries. In the year 2010, thousands of people were inadvertently exposed to lead-containing soil from informal gold mining within the northern state of Zamfara. While estimates vary, it is thought that upwards of 400 children died of acute lead poisoning , making this perhaps the largest lead poisoning fatality outbreak ever encountered. Frontline States In April 1975,

835-466: A civilian government but not before appointing Ernest Shonekan head of an interim national government . Babangida's regime has been considered the most corrupt and responsible for creating a culture of corruption in Nigeria. Shonekan's interim government, the shortest in the political history of the country, was overthrown in a coup d'état of 1993 led by General Sani Abacha , who used military force on

1002-498: A cracked skull. After his fall from power the new regime recalled Aliyu Mohammed from retirement, promoted him to Brigadier-General and made him the acting DG of the NSO. Rafindadi's predecessor in office, Umaru Shinkafi was also invited by the new administration to probe the activities of the NSO under Rafindadi and also make recommendations on how to reform it. In August 1986 the new national security coordinator, Brig. Aliyu Mohammed instituted

1169-526: A foreign trip. Atiku Abubakar , then the customs area administrator at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport went on air to announce the incident in an apparent move to take credit and at the same time discredit his boss Abubakar Musa , the director of customs. Because of the impending currency change in the country at the time, the press went to town with a story alleging that the suitcases had contained hard currency smuggled into

1336-579: A former director of Military Intelligence (DMI) as its first director general. The new NSO set up offices in the 19 states of the federation and had its headquarters in the state house annexe in Lagos. The agency later moved into its permanent headquarters office space at 15, Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos. This address also later served as the first headquarters of the successor to the NSO, the State Security Service . The most recent occupant of this same address

1503-548: A former police officer as the first director general of the SSS, while Lieutenant Colonel A.K Togun, formerly of the DMI, was appointed as his deputy. Albert Horsfall , the former deputy director of the NSO was appointed as the first director general of the NIA, he was assisted by Abdullahi Ibrahim Atta, the former director of external intelligence also at the NSO. Other NSO alumni include Peter Nwaodua,

1670-550: A four-man military panel on 30 November. The regime promulgated the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree Number 2 of 1984, which gave the NSO the power to detain anyone suspected to be a security risk indefinitely. Detention under decree 2 was in 3-month tranches renewable at expiry. Another draconian decree was the Decree Number 4 which made it a punishable offence for anyone to publish any material deemed embarrassing to

1837-893: A government official, two journalists from The Guardian newspapers, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson were jailed under this decree. On 11 April 1984, NSO operatives arrested Irabor and Thompson. They were tried by a military tribunal headed by Justice Olalere Ayinde and charges of falsely accusing public officers of the Federal Government. This was sequel to the summons issued by the Special Military Tribunal. The summons given to them on 2 June 1984 read: Form 2 Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree No. 4 of 1984 summon to accused. "That you Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh of The Guardian Newspaper, Limited, Rutam House, Isolo on April 1, 1984 at Rutam House, Isolo in Lagos, did publish “False statement contrary to section 1(1) of

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2004-437: A military food contractor who was charged and convicted for treason. Mandara had been complaining to some soldiers that the economy was no longer what it used to be and that the country was drifting to a point where a change was needed. Mandara was arrested and charged by the NSO for plotting to overthrow the government of President Shagari. Such sentiment was common at the time and Mandara was only unfortunate that his indiscretion

2171-582: A notable human rights campaigner received a letter from an inmate of a previously unknown ultra-secret detention facility, he gave the letter to the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) to investigate. The secret detention center was later discovered on Ita-Oko Island, a remote island located in the Lekki Lagoon in the east of Lagos. The Ita-Oko detention centre was a prison colony run by the NSO where mostly political prisoners were held. The Island

2338-485: A one time national counter-terrorism coordinator and deputy national security advisor during Babangida regime, also a former director of finance and administration and former director of intelligence at the NSO. The SSS has been criticised for operating no less like its predecessor the NSO. Many of the NSO's practices have resurfaced in the SSS, which remains directly controlled by the president, and has been accused of human rights violations. In 1986, barely four months after

2505-432: A river system. The river system of the northeast is also a major river system. In addition, Nigeria has numerous coastal rivers. Over the last million years, Lake Chad in the far north-east of Nigeria has dried up several times for a few thousand years and just as often growing to many times its current size. In recent decades its surface area has been reduced considerably, which may also be due to humans taking water from

2672-422: A security services investigation known as "Project Room 103" which was meant to investigate cases of corruption and diversion of funds in the security services particularly the NSO. Project Room 103 discovered through one of Rafindadi's assistants at the NSO, Iro Ladan that Rafindadi had operated at least eight foreign accounts in 5 nations or territories with a culminative balance of £1,777,984.36 as at 1985. Some of

2839-546: A successful jihad against the Hausa Kingdoms , founding the centralised Sokoto Caliphate . This empire, with Arabic as its official language, grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants , who sent out invading armies in every direction. The vast landlocked empire connected the east with the western Sudan region and made inroads down south conquering parts of the Oyo Empire (modern-day Kwara ), and advanced towards

3006-565: A threat to the regime, imagined or otherwise. This attitude crept down the ranks of the NSO and led to heavy handedness among some of the agency's operatives. A case in point is that of Brigadier Abbas Wali, a former defence attaché to the UK and Adjutant-General of the Nigerian Army. Wali was arrested in Kano by a NSO operative named Bishara and detained at the NSO office for a week without anyone knowing about

3173-572: A triumvirate of three brigadier generals whose decisions could be vetoed by a Supreme Military Council . For this triumvirate, they convinced General Murtala Muhammed to become military head of state, with General Olusegun Obasanjo as his second-in-command, and General Theophilus Danjuma as the third. Together, the triumvirate introduced austerity measures to stem inflation, established a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, replaced all military governors with new officers, and launched "Operation Deadwood" through which they fired 11,000 officials from

3340-689: A wide scale to suppress the continuing civilian unrest. In 1995, the government hanged environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa on trumped-up charges in the deaths of four Ogoni elders, which caused Nigerian's suspension from the Commonwealth . Lawsuits under the American Alien Tort Statute against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of Shell's Nigerian operation, settled out of court with Shell continuing to deny liability. Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to Abacha were discovered in 1999. The regime came to an end in 1998 when

3507-584: Is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory , where its capital, Abuja , is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos , one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa . Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC marking

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3674-453: Is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages , all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa in the north , Yoruba in the west , and Igbo in the east , together constituting over 60% of the total population. The official language is English , chosen to facilitate linguistic unity at

3841-543: Is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture . Nri and Aguleri , where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan. Members of the clan trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri . In West Africa, the oldest bronzes made using the lost wax process were from Igbo-Ukwu , a city under Nri influence. The Yoruba kingdoms of Ife and Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in

4008-556: Is plains of tall grass interrupted by trees. Sudan savannah is similar but with shorter grasses and shorter trees. Sahel savannah consists of patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast. Nigeria is divided into two main catchment areas - that of Lake Chad and that of the Niger. The Niger catchment area covers about 63% of the country. The main tributary of the Niger is the Benue, whose tributaries extend beyond Cameroon into Cameroon into Chad and

4175-673: Is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , EFCC. In the early days of the NSO, the agency was staffed by a mix of military intelligence officers, some fresh recruits, officers of the RD and former police Special Branch officers among whom was the young Albert Horsfall . The new agency was administered along a directorate structure; directorates included operations, external intelligence (Research Department), protective security (cabinet security office), internal security, finance and administration and legal services. The primary objective during this period

4342-494: The Bight of Benin , and Bonny Island on the Bight of Biafra. The majority of those taken to these ports were captured in raids and wars. Usually, the captives were taken back to the conquerors' territory as forced labour ; they were sometimes gradually acculturated and absorbed into the conquerors' society. Slave routes were established throughout Nigeria linking the hinterland areas with

4509-762: The Bornu Empire gave rise to the British-controlled Borno Emirate which established Abubakar Garbai of Borno as ruler. In 1903, the British victory in the Battle of Kano gave them a logistical edge in pacifying the heartland of the Sokoto Caliphate and parts of the former Bornu Empire. On 13 March 1903, at the grand market square of Sokoto, the last vizier of the caliphate officially conceded to British rule. The British appointed Muhammadu Attahiru II as

4676-638: The Eastern Region . In May 1967, Governor of the Eastern Region Lt. Colonel Emeka Ojukwu declared the region independent from the federation as a state called the Republic of Biafra , as a result of the continuous and systematically planned attacks against Igbos and those of Eastern extraction popularly known as 1966 pogroms . This declaration precipitated the Nigerian Civil War , which began as

4843-567: The Hajj . Babangida, sensing the imminent end was left with no choice than to seize the initiative by planning and executing the August 1985 coup. A contemporary account from the Supreme Military Council (SMC) meeting that deliberated on the case was given by Femi Segun, a protocol officer in the state house at the time. Femi Segun recalls that "...IBB ( Ibrahim Babangida ) was asked to step out of

5010-639: The Lagos Treaty of Cession . British missionaries expanded their operations and travelled further inland. In 1864, Samuel Ajayi Crowther became the first African bishop of the Anglican Church . In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received recognition from other European nations at the Berlin Conference . The following year, it chartered the Royal Niger Company under

5177-562: The Muslim world . There are early historical references by medieval Arab and Muslim historians and geographers which refer to the Kanem–Bornu Empire as the region's major centre for Islamic civilization. The Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people consolidated in the 10th century and continued until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911. Nri was ruled by the Eze Nri , and the city of Nri

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5344-573: The Niger River running through the country. This name was coined on 8 January 1897, by the British journalist Flora Shaw . The neighboring Republic of Niger takes its name from the same river. The origin of the name Niger , which originally applied to only the middle reaches of the Niger River, is uncertain. The word is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew n-iger ewen used by inhabitants along

5511-543: The Nigerian Political Bureau which made recommendations for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. In 1989, Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. Babangida survived the 1990 Nigerian coup d'état attempt , then postponed a promised return to democracy to 1992. Babangida legalized the formation of political parties and formed the two-party system with

5678-581: The Northern Nigeria Protectorate into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria . Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Protectorates and Lagos Colony . Inhabitants of the southern region sustained more interaction, economic and cultural, with the British and other Europeans owing to the coastal economy. Christian missions established Western educational institutions in

5845-480: The Rhodesian Bush War . The biggest internal threat was from the restive military, the country's economy was experiencing massive growth due to the oil boom of the 70's. There were civilian dissidents, but the military had been blighted by the series of coups, counter coups and the civil war , there was widespread nepotism , promotions had been political and a new system of patronage was also introduced where

6012-538: The Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention ahead of the 1992 general elections . He urged all Nigerians to join either of the parties, which Chief Bola Ige referred to as "two leper hands". The 1993 presidential election held on 12 June was the first since the military coup of 1983. The results, though not officially declared by the National Electoral Commission, showed

6179-760: The World Bank . Nigeria is a founding member of the African Union and a member of many international organizations, including the United Nations , the Commonwealth of Nations , NAM , the Economic Community of West African States , Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC . It is also a member of the informal MINT group of countries and is one of the Next Eleven economies. The name Nigeria derives from

6346-514: The Yoruba heartland of Ibadan , to reach the Atlantic Ocean. The territory controlled by the empire included much of modern-day northern and central Nigeria. The sultan sent out emirs to establish suzerainty over the conquered territories and promote Islamic civilization; the emirs in turn became increasingly rich and powerful through trade and slavery. By the 1890s, the largest slave population in

6513-562: The 10th century. With the spread of Islam from the 7th century AD, the area became known as Sudan or as Bilad Al Sudan (English: Land of the Blacks). Since the populations were partially affiliated with the Arab Muslim culture of North Africa , they began trans-Saharan trade and were referred to by the Arabic speakers as Al-Sudan (meaning "The Blacks") as they were considered an extended part of

6680-462: The 12th and 14th centuries, respectively. The oldest signs of human settlement at Ife's current site date back to the 9th century, and its material culture includes terracotta and bronze figures. In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin important, direct trade with the peoples of southern Nigeria, at the port they named Lagos (formerly Eko) and in Calabar along

6847-573: The 2007 general elections, Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party came to power. The international community, which had observed the Nigerian elections to promote a free and fair process, condemned these elections as seriously flawed. Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had been sworn in by the Senate three months earlier as acting president to succeed Yar'Adua. Jonathan won

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7014-449: The 2011 presidential election; the polls went smoothly and with relatively little violence or electoral fraud. Jonathan's tenure saw an economic recovery that made Nigeria the leading economic power in Africa. The Jonathan administration also saw an increase in unparalleled corruption, with as many as 20 billion US dollars said to have been lost to the Nigerian state through the national oil company. Above all, however, Jonathan's tenure saw

7181-810: The African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) to set up headquarters within their borders. The ANC was declared as the official representative of the South African People by the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity whilst its headquarters was officially in Lusaka. Thousands of South African youth traveled to these states to receive training in sabotage and guerrilla warfare. American relations with

7348-502: The Black Gold project. The NSO might also have been overwhelmed by the steady stream of coup rumours being manufactured by the DMI under Haliru Akilu, the DMI also planted a story that Col. Aliyu Mohammed was conspiring with some officers to overthrow the government, Aliyu had a very good motive for doing so which was the need to pay back the Buhari government and also to deal with Rafinadi; it

7515-467: The British government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. By the eve of independence in 1960, regional differences in modern educational access were marked. The legacy, though less pronounced, continues to the present day. The balance between north and south was also expressed in Nigeria's political life. For instance, northern Nigeria did not outlaw slavery until 1936 whilst in other parts of Nigeria, slavery

7682-728: The Chad Basin, where the course of the El Beid River forms the border with Cameroon, from the Mandara Mountains to Lake Chad. The Komadugu Yobe river system gives rise to the internationally important Hadejia-Nguru wetlands and Ox-bow lakes around Lake Nguru in the rainy season. Other rivers of the northeast include the Ngadda and the Yedseram, both of which flow through the Sambisa swamps, thus forming

7849-448: The DMI boss Col. Aliyu Mohammed for the position. Rafindadi, a Katsina native like Buhari had been described as belonging to the " Kaduna Mafia ", a powerful group of northern elite who attended elite schools in Kaduna, "..the elite mobsters move to positions and transactions, and their main goal is to secure the supremacy of Islam in northern Nigeria for good. This requires an alliance with

8016-606: The Decree No. 4 of 1984. You are therefore summoned to appear before the Tribunal mentioned above sitting at Federal High Court on the 4th day of June at the hour of 9.00 a.m in the forenoon to answer the said complaint". Also accused along with the men was their employer, Guardian Newspapers Limited. The NSO became particularly notorious during Buhari 's so called War Against Indiscipline crackdown in spring 1984. A series of repressive measures, led by NSO chief Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi ,

8183-493: The Federation of Nigeria, 1990". Rafindadi was offered the opportunity to recover the funds if he could explain the source of such wealth as a civil servant but he failed to provide any such evidence. Lawal Rafindadi fought unsuccessfully to get the money back through successive governments until his death on 29 November 2007 from heart related complications. Following the 1985 military coup that brought Ibrahim Babangida to power,

8350-575: The Frontline States reached their peak during the human rights push of the Carter administration . Under the Reagan administration 's Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker , the Frontline States were engaged diplomatically to reach landmark peace accords between South Africa, Mozambique, Angola ( Lusaka Protocol ), and Namibia ( New York Accords ). The term "frontline states"

8517-430: The Frontline States – then consisting of Botswana, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia – were formally recognised as an entity as a committee of the Assembly of the Heads of State of the Organisation of African Unity . They were joined by Angola (1975), Mozambique (1975) and Zimbabwe (1980) when those countries gained their independence. Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere was the chairman until he retired in 1985. His successor

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8684-472: The Kwankwassiya of Rabiu Kwankwaso , former governor of Kano State in the Northwest. Bola Tinubu , of the ruling party, won the disputed election with 36.61% of the vote, but both runners-up claimed victory and litigation is ongoing in an election tribunal. Bola Tinubu's inauguration was held on 29 May 2023. Problems with widespread kidnapping in Nigeria continued. On 29 May 2024, Tinubu signed into law an act readopting Nigeria, We Hail Thee , which

8851-419: The NSO and detained for 40 months under house arrest at the Lagos Garrison Command (LGC) headquarters on kofo Abayomi road, in Lagos. The new regime opened up the NSO detention centre in Lagos to the press and released 101 detainees that included the likes of Senator Gbenga Ogunniya , Femi Falana and Folu Olamiti, the editor of the Sunday Tribune who was detained under decree 4; one detainee was reported to have

9018-407: The NSO and they looked at it as a terror organisation". In 1980, one of the NSO's bigger intelligence gaffs was brought to light in the wake of the Maitatsine riots in Kano . The riots in which 4,177 people lost their lives were started by the Maitasine sect, an Islamic sect founded on the teachings of the late Malam Muhammadu Marwa alias Allah Ta-Tsine or Maitatsine. Marwa, a Cameroonian preacher,

9185-404: The NSO posting active duty operatives under cover within the administrative structure to be inherited by the civilian administration with a view to gathering first hand intelligence on the daily operations of the new administration. A former special adviser to President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly matters, Tanko Yakasai remembered meeting two such operatives during his time in detention at

9352-490: The NSO take custody of the suspect and take over the investigation. While the investigation was ongoing, the coup was executed. Coincidentally, Shinkafi resigned his appointment as the DG of the NSO in December 1983, a month before the coup took place; he had resigned ostensibly on health grounds. Shinkafi was later recalled by one of the ring leaders of the Buhari coup, General Ibrahim Babangida after Bababgida himself had toppled Buhari in another successful coup in 1985, to probe

9519-414: The NSO was dissolved into three separate divisions per the provisions made in Decree 19: With the creation of the these services, former staff of the NSO were absorbed into these successor organisations; officers of the internal security directorate were inherited by the SSS while officers of the external intelligence directorate were absorbed by the NIA. The new military government appointed Ismaila Gwarzo

9686-417: The NSO was no longer the tame organisation it had been under the civilian government. On 3 February 1984, NSO officers arrested Marie McBroom, an American businesswoman at gunpoint. McBroom had been in the country during the December coup and had stayed behind to conclude several deals in foodstuff and fuel for her new import/export firm. McBroom was detained alongside another businesswoman Dorothy Davies who

9853-399: The NSO, General Aliyu Gusau . In September 1990, the Babangida administration reshuffled the leadership of the SSS and NIA with Horsfall taking over as DG SSS and Haliru Akilu , formerly the DG of the DIA assuming the DG NIA position while Ismaila Gwarzo left his position as DG SSS to become the minister of state for police affairs. Zakari Ibrahim, the third director general of the NIA and

10020-421: The NSO. The plan was foiled when Dikko's private secretary saw members of the team abduct Dikko from the front of his house in broad daylight, she immediately alerted the police. The fall out of the failed kidnap attempt was immense, it led to a diplomatic tit-tat game of sanctions and a souring of relations between the United Kingdom and Nigeria , the international condemnation of the criminal act further tarnished

10187-540: The Niger and the Cross Rivers has lost most of its forest because of development and harvesting by increased population and has been replaced by grassland . Everything in between the far south and the far north is savannah (insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers located between trees). Rainfall is more limited to between 500 and 1,500 millimetres (20 and 60 in) per year. The savannah zone's three categories are Guinean forest-savanna mosaic , Sudan savannah, and Sahel savannah. Guinean forest-savanna mosaic

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10354-399: The Nigerian army officers this made a great impression. They believed him." Cohen excitedly started planning the mission, "...for him, this was the fulfillment of all he dreamed of being and wasn't: an international conspirator and secret hush-hush missions..." Cohen assembled a team with funds provided by the Nigerian government while Major Mohammed Yussuf of the DMI was assigned to the team by

10521-450: The Nigerian government until the investigation into his affairs were concluded, the money was wired after much intrigue and was never returned to him. The new government alleged that he had corruptly enriched himself with the security vote of the NSO without providing evidence of same and also that he had maintained foreign accounts while serving in government "contrary to section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap 56, Laws of

10688-420: The Nigerian government, with Nigeria utilizing air support from Egyptian pilots provided by Gamal Abdel Nasser , while France and Israel aided the Biafrans. The Congolese government, under President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , took an early stand on the Biafran secession, voicing strong support for the Nigerian federal government and deploying thousands of troops to fight against the secessionists . Following

10855-433: The SSS headquarters during the Babangida regime. One of the operatives was a messenger in the office of Dr. Joseph Wayas , the second republic senate president while the other worked as a personal assistant to Bello Maitama Yusuf , the minister of commerce in the Shagari administration. One of the operatives revealed the objective and scope of the operation to Yakasai, informing him that their cover had been established before

11022-512: The Sharie catchment area. In the Sahel region, rain is less than 500 millimetres (20 in) per year, and the Sahara Desert is encroaching. In the dry northeast corner of the country lies Lake Chad , on a shared water boundary delimitation with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The Chad Basin is fed from the north-eastern quarter of Nigeria. The Bauchi Plateau forms the watershed between the Niger/Benue and Komadugu Yobe river systems. The flat plains of north-eastern Nigeria are geographically part of

11189-403: The Shinkafi era were summarily retired, an example was Peter Odukwe, the deputy director general of the agency. Rafindadi's reign as the head of the infamous NSO came to an end with the August 1985 Babangida coup. Unfortunately for Rafindadi and the NSO, they were unable to predict the coup, the NSO might also have been lulled into a false sense of security by the SMC's indictment of Babangida on

11356-448: The UK and under interrogation claimed to have received Gowon's blessing for the coup; Gowon denied ever discussing the coup with him. The rumours of Gowon's involvement though unsubstantiated might have eroded whatever confidence the executive had in the RD as an external intelligence agency. The new head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo, created the NSO by merging the Special Branch with the RD and appointed Colonel Abdullahi Mohammed ,

11523-470: The United Kingdom where he had fled after the 1983 Buhari coup. Elisha Cohen had been doing business in Nigeria since the 60's as the country representative of Solel Boneh , an Israeli construction company. Cohen built up contacts among the senior officers in the Nigerian military including General Olusegun Obasanjo, in the aftermath of the attempt it was claimed in some quarters that Obasanjo's friend General T.Y. Danjuma had been instrumental in facilitating

11690-442: The United kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Germany. Not considering his relatively short stay in office, Lawal Rafindadi was the most controversial director general of the NSO because of activities during his tenure and after he had been removed from office. The NSO definitely achieved the most notoriety under the leadership of Lawal Rafindadi, it has been alleged in some quarters that it was only General Buhari , Tunde Idiagbon and

11857-417: The accounts were opened under the name of Manta Sanko Ango, a cover name or legend that Rafindadi used while still active in intelligence work, he had a passport that bore this identity in addition to his diplomatic passport enabling him to use same as identification when opening the accounts. Rafindadi was ordered by the DMI to sign a letter authorising the transfer the funds into a holding account operated by

12024-525: The activities of the NSO under his successor, Lawal Rafindadi. Due to Umaru Shinkafi's sudden resignation, President Shagari immediately appointed Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi as the new NSO Director General (DG). Rafindadi was a career diplomat and pioneer officer in the Research Department intelligence unit. Unlike Shinkafi whose background was in the Nigeria police Rafindadi was an experienced intelligence officer with several foreign postings including

12191-732: The anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle. In this role, the NSO maintained contact with various rebel leaders in the Frontline States of Southern Africa, the agency channeled funds to these individuals and groups and also provided them with arms and training. Some of the beneficiaries of this program include the African National Congress (ANC) in their guerilla war against white minority rule in South Africa, Robert Mugabe 's Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and Joshua Nkomo 's Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army , both in

12358-466: The army, dominated since colonial times by men from the north". Rafindadi quickly settled down to his job as the DG of the NSO aware of the distrust the military had of him and his organisation and also of the fierce rivalry that existed between himself and his opposite in the DMI, Mohammed Gusau . The Buhari government in prosecuting its war on corruption gave the NSO unprecedented powers of arrest and detention,

12525-423: The arrest including the DG of the agency, Lawal Rafindai and his deputy Albert Horsfall. The military was not spared by the NSO either, the agency investigated Col. Aliyu Mohammed of the DMI and found him to be complicit in an import license racket, he was subsequently compulsorily retired from the army after six months in detention. During this period, Aliyu's friend and superior, Ibrahim Babangida also came under

12692-537: The border with Cameroon , where the montane land is part of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon. The far south is defined by its tropical rainforest climate , where annual rainfall is 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (60 to 80 in) per year. In the southeast stands the Obudu Plateau . Coastal plains are found in both the southwest and the southeast. Mangrove swamps are found along the coast. The area near

12859-580: The border with Cameroon close to the coast is rich rainforest and part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion , an important centre for biodiversity . It is a habitat for the drill primate , which is found in the wild only in this area and across the border in Cameroon. The areas surrounding Calabar , Cross River State, also in this forest, are believed to contain the world's largest diversity of butterflies. The area of southern Nigeria between

13026-405: The caliphate and the central Sokoto administration to prevent any defence as he worked towards the capital. As the British approached the city of Sokoto , Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru I organized a quick defence of the city and fought the advancing British-led forces. The British force quickly won, sending Attahiru I and thousands of followers on a Mahdist hijra . In the northeast, the decline of

13193-477: The canals, sewerage systems that are channels for water flows, and the like. Haphazard industrial planning, increased urbanisation, poverty and lack of competence of the municipal government are seen as the major reasons for high levels of waste pollution in major cities of the country. Some of the solutions have been disastrous to the environment, resulting in untreated waste being dumped in places where it can pollute waterways and groundwater . In 2005, Nigeria had

13360-565: The civil service. Colonel Buka Suka Dimka launched a February 1976 coup attempt , during which General Murtala Muhammed was assassinated. Dimka lacked widespread support among the military, and his coup failed, forcing him to flee. After the coup attempt, General Olusegun Obasanjo was appointed military head of state. Obasanjo vowed to continue Murtala's policies. Aware of the danger of alienating northern Nigerians, Obasanjo brought General Shehu Yar'Adua as his replacement and second-in-command as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters completing

13527-423: The civilian regime of Shehu Shagari, the NSO started a program of infiltrating government agencies and establishments that were to be inherited by the new civilian administration. The NSO at this time was still a largely military oriented agency, which still had a serving army officer as its director-general and the outgoing military administration was largely suspicious of the incoming civilians. This situation led to

13694-501: The country. The actual culprit at the time was Dahiru Waziri, a friend of Rafindadi who had just returned with his family from a posting in Saudi Arabia to resume as the chief of protocol in the state house. Waziri had flown in on the same aircraft as the Emir of Gwandu and his luggage had been collected directly from the aircraft by a protocol officer in the state house and ferried directly to

13861-474: The coup and the coup plotters before the coup was executed; the inspector general of police at the time MD Yussuf excused this failure as the inability of the Special Branch to police the military. The police simply lacked the legal backing to conduct intelligence operations on the military. At the time, there were rumours making the rounds alleging that a former head of state General Yakubu Gowon had planned

14028-671: The coup form his hideout in exile. Gowon had been ousted in a bloodless coup led by the late Murtala Mohammed while he was in Uganda attending a meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and had taken up temporary asylum in Togo as at the time of the coup. The ringleader of the coup plotters was Lieutenant colonel Buka Suka Dimka , an in-law of Gowon and fellow member of the Angas ethnic group in Plateau State . Dimka had visited Gowon in exile in

14195-485: The cultural and political differences were sharp among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa in the north, Igbo in the east and Yoruba in the west. The Westminster system of government was retained, and thus the President 's powers were generally ceremonial. The parliamentary system of government had Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister and Nnamdi Azikiwe as the ceremonial president. The founding government

14362-562: The dictator died in the villa. He looted money to offshore accounts in Western European banks and defeated coup plots by arresting and bribing generals and politicians. His successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar , adopted a new constitution on 5 May 1999, which provided for multiparty elections. On 29 May 1999, Abubakar handed over power to the winner of the 1999 presidential election, former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo , as President of Nigeria. Obasanjo had been in prison under

14529-506: The dictatorship of Abacha. Obasanjo's inauguration heralded the beginning of the Fourth Nigerian Republic, ending a 39-year period of short-lived democracies, civil war and military dictatorship. Although the elections that brought Obasanjo to power and allowed him to run for a second term in the 2003 presidential elections were condemned as unfree and unfair, Nigeria made significant progress in democratization under Obasanjo. In

14696-596: The direct control of the British government and established the Southern Nigeria Protectorate as a British protectorate and part of the British Empire . By 1902, the British had begun plans to move north into the Sokoto Caliphate. British General Lord Frederick Lugard was tasked by the Colonial Office to implement the agenda. Lugard used rivalries between many of the emirs in the southern reach of

14863-415: The director general of the NSO that ran the government; "the NSO was superior to all other intelligence organizations". One month after Shagari nominated Rafindadi as the DG of the NSO, precisely on 31 December 1983, General Muhamudu Buhari toppled the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari in a military coup. Surprisingly, Rafindadi was confirmed as DG NSO by the new regime even though Babangida had tipped

15030-539: The duo of Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe of the Social Democratic Party defeated Bashir Tofa and Sylvester Ugoh of the National Republican Convention by over 2.3 million votes. However, Babangida annulled the elections, leading to massive civilian protests that effectively shut down the country for weeks. In August 1993, Babangida finally kept his promise to relinquish power to

15197-712: The earliest known sculptures in sub-Saharan Africa and smelted iron by about 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier. Evidence of iron smelting has also been excavated at sites in the Nsukka region of southeast Nigeria: dating to 2000 BC at the site of Lejja and to 750 BC and at the site of Opi . The Kano Chronicle highlights an ancient history dating to around 999 AD of the Hausa Sahelian city-state of Kano , with other major Hausa cities (or Hausa Bakwai ) of Daura , Hadeija , Kano , Katsina , Zazzau , Rano , and Gobir all having recorded histories dating back to

15364-746: The emergence of a wave of terror by the Boko Haram insurgency , such as the Gwoza massacre and Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in 2014. Ahead of the general election of 2015 , a merger of the biggest opposition parties in Nigeria – the Action Congress of Nigeria , the Congress for Progressive Change , the All Nigeria Peoples Party , a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and

15531-611: The establishment of the SSS, the director general of the agency Ismaila Gwarzo and his deputy Lieutenant Colonel Tunde Togun were indicted in the killing of the editor of the Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa by a Letter Bomb delivered to his home. Nigeria Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria , is a country in West Africa . It is situated between the Sahel to

15698-625: The false assurance that the ring leaders were "Northern boys" who wouldn't risk overthrowing an elected government headed by a northerner, he was wrong. The situation had been exacerbated by Umaru Dikko's meddling in internal security and his spying on military officers. President Shagari had admitted to warning Dikko off meddling in affairs that did not concern him, some of which included changing General Buhari's posting from Lagos to Jos because he doubted Buhari's loyalty. In November 1983, Shinkafi had warned Shagari after he had met with General Buhari in Jos at

15865-652: The feeling that he was a mystery man. He let it be understood that he was connected to the Mossad and the Shin Bet intelligence services or maybe even represented them in Nigeria. Among other things, he related that he worked on behalf of the Mossad in North Africa. Most of the Israelis were not very impressed by his hints and most of us understood that this was just fake showing off. But on

16032-463: The first internal unification. The modern state originated with British colonialization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914. The British set up administrative and legal structures while practicing indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms . Nigeria became a formally independent federation on 1 October 1960. It experienced

16199-512: The first time since the return of democracy, no former military ruler ran for president, marking a strengthening of democracy and faith in the multiparty constitution . The election also saw the rise of metonymic supporters of the new candidates, the Obidient movement of Peter Obi , previously governor of Anambra State, widely appealed to young, urban voters and has his core base in the Southeast; and

16366-416: The forest zone's most southerly portion, especially around the Niger River and Cross River deltas, is mangrove swamp . North of this is a freshwater swamp, containing different vegetation from the saltwater mangrove swamps, and north of that is a rainforest. The savannah zone's three categories are divided into Guinean forest-savanna mosaic , made up of plains of tall grass which are interrupted by trees,

16533-614: The former transport minister in the Shagari cabinet – had alleged that the NSO had indeed informed Shagari about the impending Buhari coup in 1983. Dikko had earlier petitioned the Justice Oputa panel where he alleged amongst other things that Shinkafi had conspired with the coup plotters and hence withheld information about the coup from the President. One of Umaru Shinkafi's aides, Femi Fani-Kayode , has said that President Shagari failed to act on

16700-571: The government. One dissident has called them a " Gestapo in Black". The NSO was created as a fall-out of the Dimka coup. Prior to the coup, internal security and intelligence was handled by the police Special Branch , a Secret Police , while external intelligence was conducted by the Research Department (RD), a unit of the External Affairs ministry. The Special Branch had failed to obtain intelligence about

16867-524: The highest rate of deforestation in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . That year, 12.2%, the equivalent of 11,089,000 hectares, had been forested in the country. Between 1990 and 2000, Nigeria lost an average of 409,700 hectares of forest every year equal to an average annual deforestation rate of 2.4%. Between 1990 and 2005, in total Nigeria lost 35.7% of its forest cover or around 6,145,000 hectares. Nigeria had

17034-520: The house majority leader of the Great Nigeria People's Party (GNPP) in the Borno State House of Assembly over an alleged assassination plot against the president with the aid of Chadian refugees. Though Shagari denied that the deportation had anything to do with the alleged assassination plot, it had all the hallmarks of a political witch hunt. There was also the case of Zanni Bukar Mandara,

17201-511: The image of the new regime. The kidnap plan was known to only a few people in the intelligence services and the military, the Office of the Head of State and the DG of the NSO were its principal architects. Rafindadi's deputy, Chief Albert Horsfall had denied any knowledge of the plot. Lawal Rafindadi's tenure as the DG of the NSO was plagued by arbitrary arrests and detentions of anybody suspected of being

17368-407: The inlets to irrigate agricultural land. Nigeria is covered by three types of vegetation: forests (where there is significant tree cover), savannahs (insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers located between trees), and montane land (least common and mainly found in the mountains near the Cameroon border). Both the forest zone and the savannah zone are divided into three parts. Some of

17535-470: The leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie . By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company had vastly succeeded in subjugating the independent southern kingdoms along the Niger River , the British conquered Benin in 1897, and, in the Anglo-Aro War (1901–1902), defeated other opponents. The defeat of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule. In 1900, the company's territory came under

17702-468: The location of a large area of Central African mangroves . Nigeria's most expansive topographical region is that of the valleys of the Niger and Benue river valleys (which merge and form a Y-shape). To the southwest of the Niger is a "rugged" highland . To the southeast of the Benue are hills and mountains, which form the Mambilla Plateau , the highest plateau in Nigeria. This plateau extends through

17869-657: The major coastal ports. Some of the more prolific slave-trading kingdoms who participated in the Atlantic slave trade were linked with the Edo's Benin Empire in the south, Oyo Empire in the southwest, and the Aro Confederacy in the southeast. Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th centuries. Oyo, at its territorial zenith in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, extended its influence from western Nigeria to modern-day Togo . In

18036-536: The matter. The SMC then referred the matter to the NSO for investigation. Rafindadi in his deposition to the Oputa Panel in November 2000 alleged that even before the NSO had commenced their investigations, Babangida brought a letter to the late Major-General Tunde Idiagbon , then chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters. The letter was supposed to be a clearance letter for the project under investigation purportedly written by

18203-430: The meeting which was going on because they wanted to discuss about him. For about three hours, IBB, as the then chief of army staff was just walking up and down outside without shoes and cap thinking seriously. We didn't know what was going on but it was clear that he was asked to step out of the meeting. A few days later, he staged a palace coup". The NSO under Rafindadi began a wire tapping and eavesdropping program where

18370-456: The middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu before 19th-century European colonialism . Before Flora Shaw suggested the name Nigeria , other proposed names included Royal Niger Company Territories , Central Sudan , Niger Empire , Niger Sudan , and Hausa Territories . Kainji Dam excavations showed ironworking by the 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic times to the Iron Age

18537-468: The military headquarters stole the Nigerian battle plans for the first Bakassi war with Cameroon and passed it along to French Intelligence who shared it with the Cameroonians. This intelligence coup weakened Nigeria's willingness to fight and forced it to the negotiation table; it was a great humiliation and the NSO had failed to stop it. Umaru Shinkafi in a libel lawsuit he filed against Umaru Dikko –

18704-564: The military intervention we had the UPN, headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. We had the GNPP and the opposition parties. The ruling party at the centre was, of course, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), headed by Shehu Shagari . It was feared that the operations of the NSO were slanted against the opposition parties, particularly the UPN. For this reason, people in the opposition parties tended to be afraid of

18871-418: The military triumvirate, with Obasanjo as head of state and General Theophilus Danjuma as Chief of Army Staff , the three went on to re-establish control over the military regime and organized the military's transfer of power programme: states creation and national delimitation , local government reforms and the constitutional drafting committee for a new republic. The military carefully planned

19038-450: The military; the new government then appointed Umaru Shinkafi a former commissioner of police in Oyo state, as the new director general of the NSO. The Shinkafi-led NSO had the difficult task of transitioning from a military era secret police organisation to an organisation that functioned in a democracy and which also respected the constitution. During the second republic, there was a reduction in

19205-460: The minority. Nigeria is a regional power in Africa and a middle power in international affairs. Nigeria's economy is the fourth-largest in Africa , the 53rd-largest in the world by nominal GDP , and 27th-largest by PPP . Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa by its citizens due to its large population and formerly large economy , and is considered to be an emerging market by

19372-579: The mission. Cohen had impressed his Nigerian Military friends with stories of his ties to the Israeli intelligence services which were inaccurate and also unverifiable at the time because Nigeria had cut off diplomatic ties with Israel in solidarity with the OAU in the wake of the 1967 Israeli attack on Egypt . His claims were described by an associate who knew him during this period thus; "Cohen knew how to impress...He gave his listeners – Israelis and especially Nigerians –

19539-403: The most common across the country; Sudan savannah, with short grasses and short trees; and Sahel savannah patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast. Waste management including sewage treatment , the linked processes of deforestation and soil degradation , and climate change or global warming are the major environmental problems in Nigeria. Waste management presents problems in

19706-464: The national level. Nigeria's constitution ensures de jure freedom of religion , and it is home to some of the world's largest Muslim and Christian populations. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims , who live mostly in the north part of the country, and Christians , who live mostly in the south; indigenous religions , such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, are in

19873-571: The national security hierarchy and its influence greatly curtailed. This focus on the military greatly limited the visibility of the NSO in the eyes of the public during this period. In the civil sphere, student protests and activism were a major concern of the NSO, a government crackdown on student activism led to the proscription of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) in 1978 and the arrest and detention of its members and lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi . In 1988, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka

20040-578: The new PDP (a faction of serving governors of the ruling People's Democratic Party) – formed the All Progressives Congress led by current president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At the time, it was the most expensive election ever to be held on the African continent (being surpassed only by the elections of 2019 and 2023 ). The new mega-opposition party chose as their candidate for the election former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari's campaign in 2015

20207-425: The new administration took over and also that they had been posted to various government ministries. Keeping to its promise, the military junta headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo conducted elections and power was handed over to a civilian administration headed by Shehu Shagari on 1 October 1979. After the handing over, all military officers who had served under the previous military regime retired voluntarily from

20374-434: The new caliph. Lugard abolished the caliphate but retained the title sultan as a symbolic position in the newly organized Northern Nigeria Protectorate . This remnant became known as " Sokoto Sultanate Council ". In June 1903, the British defeated the remaining northern forces of Attahiru. By 1906, all resistance to British rule had ended. On 1 January 1914, the British formally united the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and

20541-564: The north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean . It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 sq mi). With a population of more than 230 million, it is the most populous country in Africa , and the world's sixth-most populous country . Nigeria borders Niger in the north , Chad in the northeast , Cameroon in the east , and Benin in the west . Nigeria

20708-549: The north of the country including the more recent Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. In 1982 a similar riot to the 1980 Kano riots broke out in Bulumkuttu, near Maiduguri and in Kaduna all of which displayed similarities with the Kano riots. The NSO under Shinkafi also dealt with matters of illegal immigration, one very controversial case was the deportation of Abdurrahman Shugaba Darman ,

20875-566: The north, the incessant fighting amongst the Hausa city-states and the decline of the Bornu Empire allowed the Fulani people to gain headway into the region. Until this point, the Fulani, a nomadic ethnic group, primarily traversed the semi-desert Sahelian region north of Sudan with cattle and avoided trade and intermingling with the Sudanic peoples. At the beginning of the 19th century, Usman dan Fodio led

21042-562: The number of human rights abuses committed by the NSO, though their overall human rights record still remained poor. Political parties and opposition groups complained of harassment by the NSO, particularly the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo – a keen rival of the party in power, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) – was constantly hounded by the NSO. Shinkafi explained these accusations in an interview; "Before

21209-505: The official Nigerian government side attacked Biafra on 6 July 1967, at Garkem. The 30-month war, with a long blockade of Biafra and its isolation from trade and international relief, ended in January 1970. Estimates of the number of dead in the former Eastern Region during the 30-month civil war range from one to three million. Britain and the Soviet Union were the main military backers of

21376-512: The plotters struggled to form a central government. Senate President Nwafor Orizu handed over government control to the Army , under the command of another Igbo officer, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi . Later, the counter-coup of 1966, supported primarily by Northern military officers, facilitated the rise of Yakubu Gowon as military head of state. Tension rose between north and south; Igbos in northern cities suffered persecution and many fled to

21543-443: The previous DG of the NSO, Umaru Shinkafi. Upon examination by the NSO, it turned out that the letter was actually written during Rafindadi's tenure as DG NSO, the name of the officer that signed the letter was fake and the letter was declared as a forgery. In the "Black Gold" affair, Buhari and Idiagbon had finally found a very good excuse to rid themselves of Babangida, he was slated for retirement and Idiagbon travelled to Mecca for

21710-491: The protectorates. Under Britain's policy of indirect rule and validation of Islamic legitimist tradition, the Crown did not encourage the operation of Christian missions in the northern, Islamic part of the country. By the mid-20th century following World War II , a wave for independence was sweeping across Africa, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by

21877-557: The region Slave Coast . Europeans traded goods with peoples at the coast; coastal trade with Europeans also marked the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade . The port of Calabar on the historical Bight of Biafra (now commonly referred to as the Bight of Bonny) became one of the largest slave-trading posts in West Africa in this era. Other major slaving ports were located in Badagry , Lagos on

22044-480: The request of Shagari, this was in a bid to investigate rumours of a coup plot that Solomon Lar , the governor of Plateau State had informed Shagari about. Shagari had claimed that a lieutenant-colonel was arrested while visiting army formations in the country to promote a coup, he also alleged that the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was perceived to be dragging its feet on the matter, hence he asked that

22211-600: The resettlement of slaves freed by Britain in North America after the American Revolutionary War . Britain intervened in the Lagos kingship power struggle by bombarding Lagos in 1851, deposing the slave-trade-friendly Oba Kosoko , helping to install the amenable Oba Akitoye and signing the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos on 1   January 1852. Britain annexed Lagos as a crown colony in August 1861 with

22378-465: The return to civilian rule putting in place measures to ensure that political parties had broader support than witnessed during the first republic. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National Assembly. On 1 October 1979, Shehu Shagari

22545-503: The scrutiny of the NSO, this arose because of a business dealing he and his brother in-law Sunny okogwu were involved in. Babangida and his brother in-law had wanted to set up a military hardware company called 'Black Gold' in Kaduna. The then military governor of the state, Air Vice-Marshal Usman Mu'azu wrote to the Supreme Military Council (SMC) explaining that the project was a national security risk and requested guidance on

22712-416: The security reports he had been given on the coup plotters, Fani-Kayode alleged that President Shagari had only called the coup plotters to ask them if what he was being told about them was true which they denied. The coup plotters on their part asked that he dropped some ministers including his in-law, Umaru Dikko that they had alleged were corrupt but Shagari flatly refused. Instead, Shagari decided to rely on

22879-426: The separatist Ambazonia ) 1,690 km or 1,050 mi. Its coastline is at least 853 km (530 mi). Nigeria lies between latitudes 4° and 14°N , and longitudes 2° and 15°E . The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft). The main rivers are the Niger and the Benue , which converge and empty into the Niger Delta . This is one of the world's largest river deltas and

23046-428: The sixth DG SSS (actually the third but the SSS consider all former NSO DGs as SSS DGs) who was also a former national security adviser to the president of the Gambia . Jonathan Obuseh was also drafted into the SSS from the NSO where he retired as a director, he later went on to establish the private security firm, Sovereign Guards. Bello Lafiaji, a former chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who

23213-414: The state house without passing through customs. Another member of the Emir of Gwandu's party was Buhari's half brother, which led to the Emir of Daura 's (Daura is Buhari's hometown) name being mentioned originally in the press instead of the Emir of Gwandu in an attempt to implicate the Head of State in the affair. In an attempt to protect his friend, Rafindadi later claimed that it was he who had received

23380-412: The successful coup plotters and their kinsmen got choice government positions and those who were seen as outsiders were either summarily retired or arrested on trumped up charges of coup-plotting. Most of the internal security activities of the NSO during this period were focused on checkmating military and their propensity for coup plotting, the DMI under then Colonel Aliyu Mohammed Gusau was relegated in

23547-452: The suitcases on behalf of a colleague in the diplomatic service and that the suitcases were to have been ostensibly filled with personal effects and not hard currency as alleged by the media. The NSO was also implicated in the much publicised " Dikko Affair " of 1984. The Dikko Affair was an unsuccessful attempt by the NSO and the Israeli businessman Elisha Cohen to kidnap and repatriate the second republic transport minister, Umaru Dikko from

23714-405: The telephone conversations of government officials, dissidents and military officials including SMC members were being listened to. Rafindadi also used his position as DG NSO and a member of the SMC to initiate a purge of senior officers in the diplomatic service for no good reason, many lost their jobs and entitlements. The NSO was also not spared from Rafindadi's purges, some officers inherited from

23881-403: The threshold of power in the country. As oil production and revenue rose, the Nigerian government became increasingly dependent on oil revenues and international commodity markets for budgetary and economic concerns. The coup in July 1975 , led by Generals Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Joseph Garba , ousted Gowon, who fled to Britain. The coup plotters wanted to replace Gowon's autocratic rule with

24048-413: The war, Nigeria enjoyed an oil boom in the 1970s, during which the country joined OPEC and received huge oil revenues. Despite these revenues, the military government did little to improve the standard of living , help small and medium businesses, or invest in infrastructure. As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal subsidies to states, the federal government became the centre of political struggle and

24215-502: The waters of this country". In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence, and allegations of widespread vote-rigging and electoral malfeasance led to legal battles over the results. There were also uncertainties, such as in the first republic, that political leaders may be unable to govern properly. The 1983 military coup d'état

24382-419: The widespread cultivation of agricultural products, such as the palm, for use in European industry. The slave trade continued after the ban, as illegal smugglers purchased slaves along the coast from native slavers. Britain's West Africa Squadron sought to intercept the smugglers at sea. The rescued slaves were taken to Freetown , a colony in West Africa originally established by Lieutenant John Clarkson for

24549-491: The world, about two million, was concentrated in the territories of the Sokoto Caliphate . The use of slave labour was extensive, especially in agriculture. By the time of its break-up in 1903 into various European colonies, the Sokoto Caliphate was one of the largest pre-colonial African states. A changing legal imperative (the outlawing of the Atlantic slave trade in 1807) and economic imperative (a desire for political and social stability) led most European powers to support

24716-583: Was Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda . The countries' governments met regularly to coordinate security and economic policies. Their mission was complicated by the fact that the economies of nearly all the FLS countries were dependent on South Africa, and many of their citizens worked there. Nevertheless, the FLS supported and sheltered exiled political movements opposed to apartheid and white minority rule, not only from South Africa, but also from Namibia (and Rhodesia prior to 1980). These states provided asylum for exiled South African political activists and allowed

24883-400: Was Rafindadi and his NSO who had sealed Aliyu's fate in the import scandal. As a consequence, Rafindadi might have focused too much of the NSO's time and resources on Aliyu and the many phantom coups that Akilu had been pushing out; a ruse to protect his fellow conspirators in the August 1985 coup. With the arrival of Babangida as the new Head of State, Rafindadi was expectedly removed as DG of

25050-408: Was a coalition of conservative parties: the Northern People's Congress led by Sir Ahmadu Bello , a party dominated by Muslim northerners, and the Igbo and Christian-dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons led by Nnamdi Azikiwe . The opposition consisted of the comparatively liberal Action Group , which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo . An imbalance

25217-425: Was abolished soon after colonialism. Nigeria gained a degree of self-rule in 1954, and full independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, as the Federation of Nigeria with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as its Prime Minister , while retaining the British monarch , Elizabeth II , as nominal head of state and Queen of Nigeria . Azikiwe replaced the colonial governor-general in November 1960. At independence,

25384-567: Was accomplished without intermediate bronze production. Some have suggested the technology moved west from the Nile Valley . But the Iron Age in the Niger River valley and the forest region appears to predate the introduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years, as well as predating it in the Nile Valley. More recent research suggests that iron metallurgy was developed independently in sub-Saharan Africa . The Nok civilization thrived between 1,500 BC and AD 200. It produced life-sized terracotta figures that are some of

25551-399: Was also a former policeman and pioneer member of the NSO, was drafted into the new SSS as the first officer-in-charge of the Ajaokuta office. Babangida sought to clean up the reputation of the intelligence services with Decree 19, but there remains a great deal of continuity between the NSO and the SSS. In fact, the first chief of the DIA was Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi 's predecessor as head of

25718-421: Was arrested on similar charges of attempting to negotiate the purchase of crude oil and gasoline without first obtaining an export license, they were initially held at an interrogation cell at NSO headquarters before being transferred to Kirikiri prison later on. Davies was released and deported after 40 days in detention, McBroom was not that lucky she was held for nine months before she was finally arraigned before

25885-490: Was carried out. Of these, repression against journalists, opposition figures, government officials (the Foreign Ministry saw a purge of those considered "disloyal") and the a 25-month imprisonment of musician Fela Ransome-Kuti are especially remembered. In 1984, Rafindadi and the NSO were embrollied in controversy when the Emir of Gwandu (father of Buhari's ADC Major Mustapha Jokolo) and his entourage were allegedly allowed to clear 53 suitcases through customs on arrival from

26052-438: Was charged with the detection and prevention of any crime against the security of the state, with the protection of classified materials, and with carrying out any other security missions assigned by the president. During the time of the military regime, and continuing through the Nigerian Second Republic , the NSO was accused of carrying out systematic and widespread human rights abuses, especially of those seen to be critical of

26219-403: Was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the overthrow of the government and the installation of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as head of state. The military coup of Muhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's re-election in 1984 was generally viewed as a positive development. In 1985, Ibrahim Babangida overthrew Buhari in a coup d'état. In 1986, Babangida established

26386-412: Was created in the polity as the result of the 1961 plebiscite . Southern Cameroons opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while Northern Cameroons chose to join Nigeria. The northern part of the country became larger than the southern part. The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and political process led to two military coups in 1966. The first coup was in January 1966 and

26553-417: Was deported from Nigeria in 1960 because of his fundamentalist teachings. Before the riots broke out, the NSO has successfully infiltrated the organisation but they were still unable to predict the violent riots sparked by the group. The riots were subsequently put down with much violence by both the police and the army. The Maitatsine uprising served as a springboard for several other fundamentalist uprisings in

26720-409: Was established as a farm settlement during the implementation of Operation Feed the Nation, which aimed at the increase of food production. It was provided with boreholes, an electric generating plant and a medical facility. It aimed at decriminalizing people – Nigerians and non-Nigerians – who refused to work, even though work was available..." Just before General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power to

26887-404: Was led mostly by soldiers under Majors Emmanuel Ifeajuna (of the Igbo tribe), Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu ( Northerner of Eastern extraction) and Adewale Ademoyega (a Yoruba from the West). The coup plotters succeeded in assassinating Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside prominent leaders of the Northern Region and Premier Samuel Akintola of the Western Region , but

27054-421: Was made in the company of soldiers. The NSO during this time continued to implement Nigeria's foreign policy objectives in Africa including her support for the various independence struggles in Africa. The Research Department continued to conduct foreign intelligence operations through its embassies abroad, though with modest achievements. In 1981, it was alleged that a senior Nigerian military officer working in

27221-418: Was popular and built around his image as a staunch anti-corruption fighter—he won the election by over two million votes. Observers generally praised the election as being fair. The election marked the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election in Nigeria. In the 2019 presidential election , Buhari was re-elected. Four candidates vied for the presidency in the 2023 presidential election . For

27388-440: Was sworn in as the first President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obasanjo peacefully transferred power to Shagari, becoming the first head of state in Nigerian history to willingly step down. The Shagari government became viewed as corrupt by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. In 1983, the inspectors of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation began to notice "the slow poisoning of

27555-501: Was the country's national anthem from 1960 to 1978, as its national anthem, replacing Arise, O Compatriots . Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923,768 km (356,669 sq mi), making it the world's 32nd-largest country . Its borders span 4,047 kilometres (2,515 mi), and it shares borders with Benin (773 km or 480 mi), Niger (1,497 km or 930 mi), Chad (87 km or 54 mi), and Cameroon (including

27722-434: Was the protection of the Head of State and the junta from both internal and external threats. The external security and intelligence activities of the NSO were centred around Nigeria's rising profile as an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member and how this affected the interests of foreign powers in Nigeria, also the NSO helped articulate the Nigerian government's foreign policy as it concerned Africa in

27889-457: Was totally cut off from all civilisation, it was only accessible by helicopter or boat and the waters surrounding it were crocodile-infested. This Island detention facility was established in 1978 under the cover of it being used as a farm settlement by the Ministry of Agriculture . In a letter he wrote to the New York Times after the paper broke the story of the Island prison's existence, Olusegun Obasanjo justified its existence thus; "Ita Oko

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