Category Archives: NSA

Did Russia's GRU military intelligence service pay the Taliban bounties to kill American military personnel in Afghanistan? It's unclear. The intelligence community has given neither former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden a high confidence assessment that such incidents occurred. But that's not the end of the story.

For the CIA in particular, this is very much an open matter.

Primarily responsible for the collection of human intelligence, the CIA has moderate confidence that a compartmentalized unit of the GRU did indeed pay bounties for the explicit purpose of killing Americans. I'm led to believe that the CIA's basis for this assessment has five key foundations.

First, information gathered from detainee interviews and related U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

Second, detected financial flows between the GRU, its intermediaries, and Taliban officers.

Third, highly sensitive and reliable reporting from agents (human sources) inside and outside of the Taliban network (some of this reporting is so sensitive that the CIA delayed sharing it with America's closest foreign partners).

Fourth, assessment of the GRU's established covert actions in Afghanistan. It has previously been established with high confidence, for example, that the GRU has supported active combat Taliban elements with funding, explicitly anti-U.S. tactical guidance, and weaponry.

Fifth, Vladimir Putin's particular ideological animus for the United States and historic animus over 1980s U.S. actions against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. At least under its current chief, Igor Kostyukov, the GRU is a near-perfect physical manifestation of this anti-Americanism (in the coming days, I will report on another case of the GRU's exceptionally aggressive anti-U.S. activity).

In contrast, both the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, despite sharing the CIA's concerns over Russia's intelligence activity in Afghanistan, lack the independent intelligence reporting to corroborate the CIA's bounty assessment. The NSA is particularly relevant as pertaining to the intelligence community assessments previously given to Trump, and now, to Biden.

The NSA casts a wide net in terms of signal (phones, cyber, computers, etc.) intelligence collection targeting the Russian government. Were the bounties story legitimate, the NSA believes it would have intercepted, or at least detected, communications relating to such bounties. An important point to note here is that the NSA believes this, in spite of known Russian efforts to disrupt and misinform NSA collection activities. On the most sensitive Russian intelligence operations (as any bounties payments for American bodies would obviously be), Russian operatives take great pains to avoid communication not simply with Moscow but also with their relevant embassy stations. They do so not simply to avoid being caught but to avoid being caught up in the NSA's exceptionally capable metadata mining and profiling software. From Putin on down, Russian officials also regularly share fictions on encrypted lines they believe the NSA may have penetrated.

Top line: I understand that the NSA does not currently have evidence of GRU officers credibly talking about paying the Taliban to kill Americans. Nor does the NSA have more tangential data-based evidence, such as detection of burner cellphones used by compartmentalized GRU officers in proximity to burner cellphones used by Taliban officers responsible for U.S.-targeting efforts (this contrasts, for example, with the NSA's dead-to-rights evidence against the Russian FSB in the aftermath of its bungled August 2020 assassination attempt against Alexei Navalny).

This separation between the CIA and NSA is important. To guard against groupthink and confirmation bias (see weapons of mass destruction, circa 2003), the NSA must base its intelligence assessments on its own collection activities, not on what it wants to find.

This leaves the bounties story as an open case that lacks the evidence to justify presidential-level policy responses.

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Inside the CIA and NSA disagreement over Russian bounties story - Washington Examiner

At a glance.

NSA along with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published a Cybersecurity Advisory warning that Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), also known as Cozy Bear, is actively exploiting five vulnerabilities in US and allies networks. The agencies urge immediate investigation and remediation, cautioning that Cozys favorite techniques include exploiting public-facing applications, leveraging external remote services, compromising supply chains, using valid accounts, exploiting software for credential access, and forging web credentials.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is preparing to formally attribute Holiday Bears supply chain gambit to the SVR, then in response to the campaign and other recent Russian misbehavior, expel ten diplomats and broaden financial sanctions via executive order, according to the Wall Street Journal. The order will strengthen current bans on trading in Russian government debt by barring U.S. financial institutions from buying new bonds directly from Russias central bank, finance ministry and the countrys massive sovereign-wealth fund after June 14. The announcement of this and other sanctions was made this morning from the White House.

Daniel Castro, Vice President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, offered some early industry reaction to the measures announced today. He gives it generally favorable reviews:

"Today the United States hit reset on the nations cybersecurity policy. Bidens job is to make Putin and others realize the Trump era is over and there is a new sheriff in town. With todays announcement, hes off to a good start. The question is now whether the United States and its allies can consistently impose significant and proportionate costs on nations that engage in or support cyberattacks that undermine global security.

"The actions announced today will position the United States and its allies to be more prepared for future attacks. A key part of this strategy is better attribution to reliably identify the source of attacks. But it remains to be seen whether better attribution will cause Russia or China to change tactics. Put simply, a name and shame approach wont work on the shameless, and both Russia and China have brazenly engaged in state-backed cyberattacks in recent years.

"The Biden administration should hope for the best but prepare for the worst, including deploying offensive countermeasures to respond to future incidents of state-backed cyberattacks and expanding its investment in defensive cybersecurity technologies and capabilities."

FCW clarifies that NSA Director Nakasone is not, in his words at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the Intelligence Communitys Annual Threat Assessment, seeking legal authorities either for NSA or for US Cyber Command in response to Cozy Bears gambol. Nakasone did not make clear, however, what remedy he is seeking to the oft-touted blind spots in domestic networks, though he did reiterate that private sector incentives stymie information sharing. FCW notes that the Directors responses seemed to frustrate lawmakers, who for months have pressedfor direct and expedient answers on how to prevent another intrusion.

Nextgovs impression was that improved public-private partnership was indeed the recommended solution. While lending support to breach notification regulation, Senator Wyden (Democrat of Oregon) countered that Federal agencies have work of their own to do first, since the intrusion also went undetected on fully visible Government networks.

The World Economic Forum and Deloitte bring us a report intended to establish cyber standards for the aviation sector. Pathways Towards a Cyber Resilient Aviation Industry suggests the following global, domestic, and organizational strategies:

The document marks aviations crucial role in vaccine transport and the accompanying risk of targeted cyberattacks.

National Defense addresses common CMMC questions. The Industrial Association cleared up the following: Vendors should feel free to ignore the word pilot. It refers to all CMMC contracts through 2026. Theres no public record of pathfinder contracts or scheduled assessments of Third Party Assessor Organizations. Processing time for Level Three compliance will hang on factors like size and present compliance.

Current contracts are not affected, only new or amended ones. Just one assessment is needed per organization. Compliance could be very expensive, and who should cover the costs is hotly debated. There are worries that the new requirements will be impossible for some organizations. Theres concern that vendors wont have time to review CMMC rules with subcontractors. Its not clear what will happen if subcontractors cant comply.

CMMC does cover foreign vendors, but any suppliers of commercial-off-the-shelf goods that manage no controlled unclassified information (CUI) neednt apply. CUI standards are less rigorous than those for confidential information. What counts as CUI is unclear: some think it must originate from the Government, others, that it can be developed down the line.

Reuters reports that the Cyberspace Administration of China has set up a tip line for residents to report online posts disparaging the CCP in the run up to the partys one hundredth anniversary this summer. Casting anyone who distorts history, insults leaders and heroes, or rejects the excellence of advanced socialist culture as historical nihilists, the regulator encouraged the public to actively play their part in supervising societyand enthusiastically report harmful information. Beijing typically ramps up censorship in advance of national occasions; critics risk jail time.

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Shame on you, Cozy Bear. Domestic surveillance authority. Aviation cyber resilience. Working with CMMC. Beijing doesn't like "historical...

Walter Pincusis a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear weapons to politics.

OPINION Last week, the Senate and House Intelligence Committees each held their Worldwide Threats hearings with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone, and DIA Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier there to answer members questions.

More than one past DNI and CIA Director has complained privately to me that Intelligence Committee public sessions are, and should be, forums to discuss serious issues, but that they are more often used by members for political purposes or to air an individual legislators personal gripes. The closed, classified sessions that always follow the open ones Im told were most of the time focused on serious problems, since there were no reporters or TV cameras present.

Last weeks sessions should have been the time for members to take up issues raised in the National Intelligence Councils Global Trends 2040, and several Senate and House members did, especially on climate change.

But several Republicans, including Ranking Member Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), made it appear that the greatest threats to the American people come from the FBI, the CIA and the NSA.

Nunes started off by attacking the committee press release that announced the hearing, which said the Trump administration refused to participate in open hearings because President Trump allegedly did not want intelligence agency directors contradicting his views of rival, foreign nations. The real reason Trump officials did not want to participate is that for years the committees Democrats hijacked our open hearings to advance conspiracy theories on the Trump administration being filled with Russian agents who colluded with Putin, and the 2016 election, among many other issues, said Nunes.

Addressing the IC leaders seated before him, Nunes said, I hope you plan on spending a reasonable amount of time in upcoming years on activities other than investigating conservatives and spying on Republican presidential campaigns.

That pretty much set the pattern for many of the Republican members who followed.

Nunes also questioned Gen. Nakasone on why Michael Ellis, a last-minute Trump appointee to be NSA General Counsel, had been put on administrative leave while the Defense Department investigated his getting the job and possible misuse of classified information. The Ellis matter was picked up 15 minutes later by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), and a third time one hour later by Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.). On Friday, Ellis resigned from NSA, writing that there was no sign that NSA will attempt to resolve his issues.

Rep. Kelly also used his time to accuse the CIA of spying on Congress. He introduced a John Solomon story from Just the News put out the morning of the hearing. It began:Imaad Zuberi, a major Democratic fundraiser facing 12 years in prison, has filed an extraordinary complaint with the CIAs chief watchdog [CIA Inspector General] alleging he witnessed flagrant problems, abuses, violations of law while working as an asset for U.S. intelligence, according to documents and interviews. Avril Haines told the committee she knew nothing about it. CIA Director Burns said he just heard about it that morning and that it was being investigated.

Some 20 minutes later, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) asked DNI Haines, Do you think the CIA should be spying on American citizens? She said no, and both CIA Director Burns and NSA Director Nakasone agreed. Stewart then stated, Its very clear the IC has no authority to turn your tools or your resources on American citizens. Stewart then referred to the four-page DNI report on domestic terrorism that Nunes had mentioned earlier, and argued that it represented collecting intelligence against Americans.

When Haines pointed out the National Counter Terrorism Center, a part of the DNI, has legal authority to receive domestic and foreign intelligence, analyze and produce such reports for policymakers, Stewart responded, I think the American people should be scared to death of this.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) raised with FBI Director Christopher Wray the June 14, 2017, shooters attack on some 24 GOP Congressmen preparing for the annual baseball game at a field in Alexandria, Va. Wenstrup said, That event concerns me just as much as the January event here at the Capitol. The Congressman, who was one of the members at the practice that day, described the shooter, James Thomas Hodgkinson, as anti-Trump and a Bernie Sanders supporter who had spent months planning the attack.

Closing his five minutes, Wenstrup said he had adored and trusted the FBI based on growing up watching the TV program on the Bureau starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. He then lectured Wray saying, You had the opportunity to clear the FBI reputation and establish trust with the American people. Instead, I am concerted it seems further degraded, and I would ask what do you intend to do about it the reputation of the FBI and the mistrust the American people have.

The House public hearings purpose was to cast light on present and future worldwide threats to the United States, for the benefit of the legislators and the American public. It went far afield, and in its way showed that this small part of the democratic process is not delivering the way it should.

Read more expert-driven national security opinions, perspectives analysis in The Cipher Brief

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Congress' Failure to Inform on Worldwide Threats - The Cipher Brief

KANPUR: The Kanpur Nagar police will invoke the provisions of stringent National Security Act (NSA) against three persons arrested while carrying 265 Remdesivir injection vials on Thursday. The state government has instructed police to act tough against people who are black-marketing Covid-19 medicines, said a senior official at the city police commissionerate.

KANPUR: The Kanpur Nagar police will invoke the provisions of stringent National Security Act (NSA) against three persons arrested while carrying 265 Remdesivir injection vials on Thursday. The state government has instructed police to act tough against people who are black-marketing Covid-19 medicines, said a senior official at the city police commissionerate.

Its a crime against humanity and we will invoke NSA against the three persons arrested with Remdesivir injections on Thursday, police commissioner Asim Arun told TOI on Friday and added that no illegal activity would be tolerated in this time of crisis and would invite strictest punishment.

He said that the state government was fully committed to facilitating easy availability of vials and other Covid-related medicines to its people. Meanwhile, the STF sources said that their sleuths have been trying to crack the nexus to curb black- marketing of Covid vials. There were inputs that of the 265 Remdesivir injection vials were supposed to be supplied to local medicine dealers, besides Haryana resident Sachin Kumar.

We are zeroing in on the local pharma distributors, and expecting an early breakthrough. It also came to fore that the injections were sent to Kanpur local Mohan Soni by one Apoorva Mukherjee of West Bengal, who is associated with a pharma company. As Mohan was supposed to take back his Rs one lakh from Apoorva, the latter instead had sent him vials against the cash, the senior police official added.

To recall, the Kanpur unit of Special Task Force (STF) had on Thursday arrested three people with 265 Remdesivir injections meant for sale in blackmarket. Ramdesivir is a key medicine, used in the treatment of coronavirus. Taking advantage of the shortage, some people have been selling the medication at high prices. DCP South Raveena Tyagi had stated that one Prashant Shukla of Naubastas Pashupati Nagar and Baktauri Purwa resident Mohan Soni were initially arrested.

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NSA to be slapped on three Remdesivir hoarders in Kanpur | Kanpur NYOOOZ - NYOOOZ

When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on the bright side, if you buy shares in a high quality company at the right price, you can gain well over 100%. One great example is National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) which saw its share price drive 113% higher over five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 17% gain in the last three months. But this could be related to the strong market, which is up 8.6% in the last three months.

See our latest analysis for National Storage Affiliates Trust

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the last half decade, National Storage Affiliates Trust became profitable. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. This free interactive report on National Storage Affiliates Trust's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, National Storage Affiliates Trust's TSR for the last 5 years was 162%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

We're pleased to report that National Storage Affiliates Trust shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 71% over one year. That's including the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 21% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for National Storage Affiliates Trust (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

We will like National Storage Affiliates Trust better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. *Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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Shareholders Of National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) Must Be Happy With Their 162% Total Return - Simply Wall St

During the first phase of polling in the ongoing three-tier UP Panchayat Elections 2021, violence was reported from some districts. Miscreants attempted booth capturing at several polling booths. The police are meanwhile gearing up to take stern action against people involved in violence during the first phase of polling in UP Panchayat Polls.

After the violence, the Agra police has identified 50 people and action will be taken against them under the National Security Act (NSA). Apart from this, security deposit of those involved in violence will also be seized. The Agra police till now has seized an amount of about Rs one crore.

The first booth capturing incident was reported from Fatehabad area. Apart from this, ballot papers were also looted.

The second incident of booth capturing took place in Jagner area, where after during violence the miscreants entered the booth and looted the ballot box. The third major incident took place in Shamsabad area. After the panchayat elections were completed, when the polling parties were going by bus to submit the ballot box, some bikers started pelting stones on the bus. In this incident of stone pelting, many polling personnel were injured.

Agra SSP Muniraj said, Strict action is being taken against those who are involved in the violence.

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UP Panchayat Elections: NSA To Be Imposed On 50 People For Violence In Agra - News18

Hot Topics on Science of Security (HoTSoS)is a research event centered on the Science of Security, which aims to address the fundamental problems of security in a principled manner.Registration is now open for the eighth annual HoTSoS event which will be held virtually, hosted by the National Security Agency on April 13-15, 2021. The HotSoS plenary presentations will take place on the Hopin virtual conference platform. Networking and poster sessions will be held on the Gather.town platform. Registered attendees will receive an email with instructions for accessing the platforms in the week prior to the event.Register hereRegistration deadline is 11 April.

HotSoSbrings together researchers from diverse disciplines to promote advancement of work related to the science of security. The 8th Symposium continues the series emphasis on cyber-security with a strong methodology and scientific rigor. This symposium solicits presentations of already published work in security and privacy, particularly that which examines the scientific foundations of trustworthy systems. In addition to these presentations, the symposium solicits work in progress papers for discussion, presentations of student research projects, and research posters. The program will also include invited talks and panels. The poster session will be highlighted by a poster competition.

Keynote presentations will be delivered by:

Special Session on Science of Security Hard Problems

The program this year will also include a special breakout discussion session centered on Science of Security Hard Problems.The SoS community influencers are revisiting the SoS Hard Problems and their definitions in preparation for a second decade of the National Security Agency (NSA) Science of Security and Privacy Program.

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Registration for NSA's Hot Topics on Science of Security (HoTSoS) Event - HSToday

by D. Howard Kass Mar 29, 2021

Paul Nakasone, CyberCom, NSA and Central Security Service

The Pentagons cyber forces carried out some two dozen strategic operations to safeguard the 2020 national elections, said General Paul Nakasone, the Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command (CyberCom), who serves concurrently as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Security Service.

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Nakasone said that CyberCom conducted the campaigns to quash foreign threats before they interfered or influenced the 2020 elections. Eleven of the operations in nine different countries were hunt forward, intended to secure the 2020 election, he said.

The initiatives appear to have been successful. An intelligence review by the National Intelligence Council released in early March, 2020, asserted that no foreign adversary successfully manipulated votes or conducted cyber attacks that discredited the elections results. We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation or voting results, the audit said.

Nakasone credited partnerships with the NSA, the Homeland Security Departments cyber wing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for sharing information with those who need it as quickly as possible. In particular, CyberComs alliance with the NSA remains the foundation of our success, he said. He also pointed to CyberComs efforts to enable domestic industry, allies and partners by providing critical threat information and insights, which improve their ability to act under their unique authorities.

As a case in point, CyberCom and the NSA are helping to craft the Biden administrations response to the Russian-executed SolarWinds cyber attack. Policymakers are considering a range of options, including costs that might be imposed by other elements of our government, Nakasone said.

Chris Krebs, former director, CISA

The generals remarks echo earlier statements by Christoper Krebs, who formerly headed the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), which operates as the nations cyber central. Barring closer scrutiny, harsher consequences and stronger leadership, the nation hasnt reached the upper limit of devastating cyber attacks, particularly from Russian hackers, Krebs and other security officials told lawmakers in recent testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee.

Krebs, who former President Trump fired after the 2020 presidential election, called for more powerful measures to discourage cyber attackers, advocated for a whole-of-government approach, stronger federal leadership and labeling cybersecurity as a threat to national security. The behavior will continue until the leadership has decided that it cannot tolerate further behavior, he said.

Immediately following the 2020 election, Krebs called it the most secure in U.S. history, claiming that no evidence of foreign meddling had emerged. I know the work that the intelligence community has done, the Department of Defense has done, that the FBI has done, that my team has done. I know that these systems are more secure. I know based on what we have seen that any attacks on the election were not successful.

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Pentagon's Cyber Forces Conducted Dozens of Operations to Protect 2020 Elections, General Says - MSSP Alert

In an opinion column in the Washington Post on Sunday, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote that in the Obama administration, Gates had proposed creating the position of a deputy director at the NSA who would be a DHS cybersecurity official. That official would have the legal authority to ask the NSA to conduct surveillance on domestic networks and defend against ongoing attacks, Gates wrote.

The new position would come with legal restrictions on how the new authority would be used and would be designed to safeguard Americans from unwanted, unauthorized surveillance, Gates said. The proposal was signed off on by then Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and receivedthe blessing of the Justice Department, but Gates wrote that the initiative came to naught, mainly because of bureaucratic foot-dragging and resistance.

Asked whether such a proposal was being considered now, the DHS officials who briefed reporters declined to address it specifically. One official said the administration is conducting an in-depth lessons-learned exercise on both the Russian and Chinese attacks and would offer recommendations once it has completed the review.

CISA, which is allowed by law only to provide advisory services to federal, stateand local government agencies and U.S. companies, is not in a position to demand any information from agencies and companies that are affected by a cyber attack, leaving that agency also in the dark about the extent of a major attack.

Lawmakers have called for expanding the powers and budget for CISA to make the agency in charge of all federal government networks that operate under the "dot gov" domain, similar to how the U.S. Cyber Command oversees cybersecurity for the U.S. military network.

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DHS studying ways to plug cyber blind spots, officials say - Roll Call

By Bashir Bello, KANO

A Network of Civil Society Organizations operating in states across the federation has on Tuesday rose from an emergency meeting in Kano to kick against the alleged plot to remove Gen. Babagana Munguno as the National Security Adviser, NSA for the revelation of alleged missing or misappropriation of one billion dollars for the procurement of arms and ammunitions.

The network in a communique issued and signed by the convener, Comrade Ibrahim Waiya said Gen. Mungunos revelations deserve national honour and respect but not persecution.

Comrade Waiya describes the alleged act of conspiracy against the National Security Adviser as unpatriotic, uncalled for and a smear on decorum.

He reiterated the networks position on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately set up a special panel of investigation into the matter while the National Assembly should support the advocacy for the setting up of the panel of an investigation by the Presidency.

According to him, the Conference of States Civil Society Networks, wishes to unequivocally throw its weight behind numerous calls across the country for an immediate probe on the alleged $1 billion arms deal, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently proceed by setting up a special panel of investigation into the matter.

It equally supports the efforts of Government in the fight against corruption, as well as promotion of transparency and accountability in governance.

We, therefore, feel obliged to remind the National Assembly on their constitutional role of the oversight function, hence a duty to support the advocacy for the setting up of the panel of an investigation by the Presidency on the alleged missing $1 billion released for the procurement of arms and ammunition.

The convener further said, Rising from an emergency meeting in Kano, we as a group of reputable Civil Society Organizations operating in different states across the country, resolved to take an exception to the grand conspiracy to have the National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno replaced as a price for telling the truth about the enduring arms deal widely discussed at both national and international platforms. It is on this note we wish to describe the alleged act of conspiracy as unpatriotic, uncalled for and a smear on decorum.

It is our conviction that the singular act of patriotism demonstrated by Major Gen. Babagana Mungono on the revelations over the alleged missing funds released for the procurement of arms and ammunitions, deserves national honour and respect but not persecution on the basis of a personal vendetta by the imperceptible anti citizens and anti-democracy elements, who get pride in promoting impunity and are hell-bent on destroying the reputation and integrity of the country, by cashing on their personal gains and serving the instincts of their arrogance.

This is a total embarrassment for the Nigerian nation to be enmeshed in yet another round of arms fund scandal with vested interests desperately struggling to kill all efforts aimed at uncovering the truth for Nigerians to know.

We wish to canvass for the support of all Nigerians to rally around and ensure that we bring an end to this kind of unpleasant experience that create both domestic and international embarrassment, and ensure that all persons or groups found guilty of shortchanging the country in the fight against killings, arson and general insecurity are sanctioned and brought to justice, regardless of their self-acclaimed influence or relationship with the apex political power corridor in the land.

It is to our utmost surprise that, if it were in other civilized climes, those being widely accused in this fresh round of arms deal would have by now been charged to court. We cannot fathom why true citizens of any nation should kick against the probe of a suspected breach of this magnitude, not even minding the price of the problem on lives and properties of innocent men, women and girls in our country and the envisaged negative impact on their future.

We wish to assure Nigerians that, an alleged scam of this magnitude cannot just be swept under the carpet because those in positions of authority saddled with the responsibility of protecting Nigerians lives have no excuse for compromise, the communique however reads.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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Alleged $1 Billion Arms Deal: CSOs kick against alleged plot to remove Munguno as NSA - Vanguard