By Emeka Omeihe What interest was the leaking of the security alert on the planned terror attack by Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) on Ondo and Kogi states, meant to serve? And who was responsible for the leak?
These are the puzzles raised by the circulation of a memo from the Department of State Services (DSS) to the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Akure, Ondo state on the planned terror attacks on the two states.
In that memo, the DSS alerted the Army in Ondo state of credible intelligence confirming plans by ISWAP to launch coordinated attacks on several communities. The agency specifically listed Eriti Akoko and Oyin Akoko in the Akoko north-west Local Government Area as well as Owo town in the Owo local government area as possible targets.
The terrorists were said to have already commenced surveillance on soft targets in the affected areas. “Intelligence confirmed plans by members of ISWAP to carry out coordinated attacks on communities in Ondo and kogi states anytime soon. The level of security alert across the identified communities should be immediately scaled up to prevent loss of lives and property” the memo stated.
The leaked alert came at a time the Nigerian authorities have been fighting strenuously, to correct reports in the international media of alleged genocide against Christians. This reality instructs that the leak should not be allowed to escape public scrutiny. Not with the current altercations between the special adviser to the president on Media and Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Both incidents share common link in view of their capacities to resurrect heated discussions on interfaith relations in the country.
So, what interest was the leak meant to serve-reinforce such claims given the agenda of ISWAP or underscore the proactiveness of the security agencies to nip such potential treats in the bud?
Whichever prism the matter is viewed, the development is bound to evoke sad feelings of the heinous crimes of the terrorists while pursuing their weird agenda. Such feelings will do no good to current efforts to correct narratives in the foreign media on alleged Christian persecution in the country. ISWAP as a brand name is bound to reinforce such claims.
Though the insurgent group had in 2022 attacked St Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo state leaving in its trail the death of 40 worshippers and injuring many others, that was perhaps, the first time it was extending its attacks to the southern part of the country. With the said credible intelligence unveiling their plans to attack Ondo and kogi state which alone shares borders with about 10 other states, the fear is that the terrorist group may be spreading to other states in the south.
That is the foreboding signal from the exposed DSS memo. It depicts ISWAP as unrelenting in pursuing its weird ideology despite the efforts of the security agencies to contain their menace. The report is said to be based on actionable intelligence. Good! What was required in the circumstance was for the relevant security agencies including the DSS to have moved into quick action and apprehend the masterminds of the plan. That is the standard expectation in such sensitive security threats.
But nothing of such is of public knowledge. Neither does the evidence in the public space give an inkling of that given the speed with which the leaked memo hit the pubic space with little time for the military to act. The memo was dated October 20,2025 but barely two days after, it had already made media headlines. So, what time did the army have to act before the alert was leaked?
Or was the memo deliberately leaked to procure public confidence in the capacities of our security agencies to rise to the challenges posed by ISWAP. That objective is better served by the apprehension and possible public parading of those identified with the surveillance on soft targets. It takes humans to identify soft targets and mount surveillance on them. It also takes humans to detect those behind them. Why no arrests were made is behind the suspicion that there may be more to the leak than ordinarily meets the eyes.
Ironically, the leak only succeeded in creating panic among the public as evidenced by the confidence building meetings by the Ondo state police command and assurances from the governments of Ondo and Kogi states.
Apparently worried by the impact of the leaked memo on its citizens, the Kogi state government had sought to rationalise the report “as a step towards victory noting that it demonstrates the proactive work of the DSS and other sister agencies in protecting Nigerians from criminal elements”
Ondo state government said it is part of routine intelligence report shared regularly among security agencies and the government to identify and prevent potential threats. It touched on the propriety of the leak when it assured citizens that the report was already being acted upon by the relevant security agencies with adequate measures to ensure public safety and security in the state.
The statements from Ondo and Kogi state governments contain obvious rationalizations for the leaked memo. The one commended it as evidence of the proactiveness of the security agencies in identifying and eliminating potential threats. While the other said the memo was already being acted upon with adequate measures for safety and security taken.
My reading of these interventions is that the memo may have been deliberately leaked to show that the security agencies are doing their work efficiently. That could as well be. But the leakage without evidence of arrested masterminds, diminishes the credibility of the narrative.
Even then, its timing is wrong. Coming at a time the government is contending with allegations of Christian persecution from the international community, the alert will only resurrect such feelings and throw spanners in the wheels of those efforts. That is perhaps, the dimension those who see the leaked memo as evidence of the proactiveness of the security agencies may not have considered. The weight of this dimension diminishes whatever credit the security agencies may seek to take of the exposed plot.
The overall interest of the country would have been better served had the memo been kept out of public view. But in seemingly seeking to take glory, we have succeeded in creating panic by drawing attention to the unrelenting weird desire by ISWAP to spread its terror agenda on the rest of the society.
This also bears correlation with the avoidable altercation between Bwala and CAN on his interpretation of the outcome of their discussions when he visited their secretariat to get their view on alleged persecution and genocide against Christians in the country. Things turned sour when CAN issued a statement describing the Presidency’s version of the meeting which gave the impression that the association dismissed claims of Christian genocide in Nigeria, as “completely untrue and unfair”
The clarification by CAN, did not help whatever advantage Bwala sought to take of that visit. If that visit never held, CAN may have opted to maintain its silence and allow the authorities sort themselves out. Bwala’s apparent overzealousness, dragged them into the fray with unpalatable outcomes.
