Communications Minister Bosun Tijani has revealed that bandits are employing sophisticated communication techniques to evade Nigeria’s security and intelligence services.
Speaking in an interview on Channels TV on Friday, Tijani said the criminals “bounce calls off multiple towers” to avoid surveillance.
“There was an exercise conducted by telecom operators to clean out all SIMs. The President pushed us to invest in towers in those areas because we realized these criminals were using special technology to make calls,” he explained.
The minister noted that bandits exploit areas with poor internet connectivity and bypass normal telecom infrastructure.
“They are not using the normal towers. They bounce calls off multiple towers. That is why they operate freely in unconnected areas. This is also why we are upgrading our satellites, so if our towers fail, our satellites will cover these gaps,” Tijani said.
He further assured that the federal government will take significant steps in 2026 to enhance rural security surveillance.
“We are investing in fibre networks and deploying 4,000 telecom towers in rural areas in collaboration with Huawei.
This initiative is aimed at reducing crime rates in underserved communities,” the minister added.
The project is part of broader efforts to improve telecommunications infrastructure in rural Nigeria, strengthening both connectivity and security monitoring capabilities.
