NIA budgets N4.87bn to monitor, intercept calls, messages

The National Assembly has approved a N4.87bn budget for the National Intelligence Agency to track, intercept, and monitor calls and messages on mobile devices, including Thuraya and WhatsApp.

The amount is part of the N895.8bn supplementary budget submitted by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last month and approved by both chambers of the federal parliament last week after increasing it by about N87bn.

Details of the supplementary budget revealed that the NIA would spend N2,938,650,000 on the Thuraya interception solution, while the WhatsApp interception solution would gulp N1, 931,700,000.