From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
RIGHTS group, Centre for Advancement of Peace, Security and Social Development (CAPSSD), has expressed reservations over the incessant leakage of classified security report from different security agencies.
The civil society organisation (CSO) also warned that the spate of highly sensational and promotional articles about top security officers in the country was a deliberate ploy to cause disaffection among headship of various security agencies.
CAPSSD, in a statement by its Executive Director, Mustapha Abubakar Funtua, also cautioned that the trend, if not quickly arrested, would not only jeopardise the security of Nigeria, but also set up officers and the units they represent against each other.
It equally drew the attention of Nigerians to the fact that intelligence gathering and security operations are private and secret undertakings.
“Deliberately exposing the names of serving officers in missions and publishing details of their actions is tantamount to leaking classified information to the enemy.
“It has become necessary for the army, police and other security agencies to tighten their grip over sensitive information as many people are now abusing the privilege that comes with free flow of information under the Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act.
“Writing promotional articles about serving officers should, therefore, be considered as leakage of classified information and tagged, treasonable,” it said in the statement.