The Nigerian army announced a nationwide cyberwarfare operation under ‘Exercise Crocodile Smile’ which they said to be an exercise which holds in the last quarter of every year. The announcement was made at a press briefing at a military camp in Ngamdu village Borno state.
The Nigerian army’s chief of Training and Operations, Major General Nuhu Angbazo briefed the press who were not permitted to ask him questions in the briefing as reported by Premium Times.
Spokesperson of the army, Sagir Musa later communicated that the operation is “deliberately intended to be all-encompassing, to include cyberwarfare exercises designed to identify, track and counter negative propaganda in the social media and across the cyberspace”.
“This is the first-ever cyber warfare to be conducted in the history of the African armed forces; that will also improve Nigeria army’s capacity and resilience against hostile cyber acts in defence of our national security and critical national infrastructure,”
Army Spokesperson, Sagir Musa
The statement did not mention the nationwide #EndSARS protests as a target, but it is something to watch closely as possibly another effort by the government to suppress the peaceful protests. This comes after the army pledged its support to the president over the people and tagged protesters as ‘anti-democratic’ and ‘subversive elements’.
The Nigerian army said Exercise Crocodile Smile will include “positive identification component aimed at identifying Boko Haram terrorists fleeing from the North East and other parts of the country as a result of the ongoing operations in the various theatres of operations especially in the Northeast, North Central and North Western parts of Nigeria.”
As #EndSARS protests gain momentum around the country, Nigerians’ belief and trust in the government is at an all-time low. The army may be using this operation to live up to their promise to the president to ‘protect democracy at all cost’. As this situation develops, and intentions are laid bare, we might see what lines the Nigerian government is willing to cross just to ignore its citizens.
