Why Every Organization Must Have A Business Continuity, Emergency Preparedness Plan

Food for thought:

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information’’. – Winston Churchill

Meaning and Scope of a Business Continuity Plan

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) also known as Business Continuity and Resilience Planning (BCRP) is a process of identifying potential threats, risks or worst-case-scenarios that can possibly undermine the day-to-day operation of an organization while also ensuring that Staff and assets are protected and able to function in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

United Kingdom Spy Oversight Court (IPT) Rules That GCHQ Acted Unlawfully Once Again

The U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the judicial oversight body which handles complaints relating to domestic intelligence agencies, has ruled that GCHQ acted unlawfully in the handling of intercepted communications data in another case brought by civil liberties groups, including Liberty, Privacy International and Amnesty International.

The IPT judged that GCHQ acted unlawfully and breached its own internal policies on interception, examination and retention of emails from two human rights organizations — the Egypt­ian Ini­tia­tive for Per­sonal Rights (EIPR) and the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in South Africa — thereby breaching their human rights.

The court ruled only that “error” and “technical” failures led to the spy agency to break its internal interception policies.

In the case of the EIPR, the tribunal writes:

… the time limit for retention permitted under the internal policies of GCHQ, the
intercepting agency, was overlooked in regard to the product of that interception,
such that it was retained for materially longer than permitted under those policies.
We are satisfied however that the product was not accessed after the expiry of the
relevant retention time limit, and the breach can thus be characterised as technical

In its ruling pertaining to the LRC it writes that “the procedure laid down by GCHQ’s internal policies for selection of the communications for examination was in error not followed in this case”.

These internal policies are not detailed — with the IPT reiterating its “general duty” to avoid disclosing information that might be “contrary to the public interest or prejudicial to national security … or the continued discharge of the functions of any of the intelligence services”. Which of course has the convenient by-product of making it impossible to judge their judgement.

As regards the legality of intercepting emails from human rights groups, the IPT deems the communications in question were “lawfully and proportionately intercepted and accessed” — citing section 8(4) of RIPA.

However the recent independent review of U.K. surveillance legislation, conducted by David Anderson, condemned the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act as an incomprehensible patchwork — calling for new oversight legislation to be drafted “from scratch”. The U.K. government has also said it intends to “modernise” surveillance legislation in a forthcoming Investigatory Powers Bill.

“A comprehensive and comprehensible new law should be drafted from scratch, replacing the multitude of current powers and providing for clear limits and safeguards on any intrusive power that it may be necessary for public authorities to use,” wrote Anderson in his review.

The shape of RIPA’s replacement remains to be seen. In the meanwhile the extent of law breaches by U.K. domestic intelligence agencies operating under a problematic patchwork of legislation and, prior to Snowden’s whistleblowing, without parliamentary scrutiny in a climate of near perfect secrecy, is still being determined.

Commenting on the latest IPT ruling in a statement, James Welch, Legal Director for Liberty, said: “Last year it was revealed that GCHQ were eavesdropping on sacrosanct lawyer-client conversations. Now we learn they’ve been spying on human rights groups. What kind of signal are British authorities sending to despotic regimes and those who risk their lives to challenge them all over the world? Who is being casual with human life now?”

It’s the second time the IPT has ruled against GCHQ in a matter of months. Back in February the court judged that data-sharing activities between the NSA and GCHQ had breached European Human Rights law, again after a challenge by civil rights groups.

Despite that ruling the IPT deemed data-sharing activities to have been put on a legal footing since December 2014 — owing to their disclosure (post-Snowden), and the subsequent yielding of details about data-sharing policies and how legal compliance is achieved (not that those details have been made public, of course).

The IPT has previously also ruled that mass surveillance is compatible with human rights principles — although civil rights groups are challenging that position at the European level, in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The U.K. government has generally taken a far more hawkish stance on surveillance than European institutions, post-Snowden. Earlier this year Europe’s top rights body, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, adopted a resolution against mass surveillance, characterizing it as a threat to democracy and human rights. And last year the European Court of Justice struck down blanket data retention powers as disproportionate.

The U.K. government responded to the ECJ ruling by fast tracking emergency surveillance legislation. A new Conservative majority government is also now pushing to legislate to expand data capture investigatory powers, even as the NSA’s domestic surveillance capabilities are being curtailed over the pond in the U.S.

The latest IPT judgement confirms GCHQ intercepted the communications of human rights groups — something that U.S. intelligence agencies have also done, according to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who provided details last year in his testimony to the Council of Europe during their enquiry into mass surveillance.

Also last year Snowden spoke out against the ‘anything goes’ privacy intrusions of GCHQ — characterizing U.K. intelligence agencies as having “really no limits on their capabilities”. And when a domestic spy agency is found to have broken its own laws by its own oversight court in multiple instances it seems pretty clear that better limits are needed.

Culled from:
Tech Crunch

Niger Delta Ex-Militants Threaten To Restart Hostilities Over Lawmakers’ Jumbo Wages

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened to resume hostilities in the region in protest of the huge salaries and allowances of federal lawmakers.

Last week, media reports had alleged that federal lawmakers would receive N9 billion wardrobe allowance this week. But Bukola Saraki, senate president, refuted the reports, stating that each lawmaker would only get a wardrobe allowance of N506, 600 per annum in line with the stipulation of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

But Mend looks dissatisfied with the clarification and its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, according to the an online news medium, TheCable, has threatened fire and brimstone.

“These wicked individuals appropriate to themselves huge and absurd salaries and allowances at the expense of the millions of hapless Nigerians, who have not been paid for months, their salaries, pensions and other benefits they deserve,” Gbomo said.

“The Niger Delta region, where the bulk of revenue that sustains the nation comes from, continues to suffer neglect, environmental degradation and lack, made worse by the very corrupt and visionless past government of Goodluck Jonathan and his cronies, some of who still shamelessly parade themselves on national television and other media platforms as ‘Niger Delta Activists’.

“Nigerians refuse to tolerate this ostentatious lifestyle of our lawmakers, whose main objective, it seems, is to enrich themselves and carelessly spend scarce resources.

“The Niger Delta people refuse to pamper and cater for the needs of these thieving Assembly rogues to their detriment. “If the lawmakers refuse to make the necessary adjustments needed to accompany the needs of the masses and the Niger Delta region, it may lead to the resumption of hostilities.”

Source:
ThisDay Newspaper

Female Suicide Bomber Kill 9 At Baga Market, Maiduguri

A female suicide bomber on Monday evening killed at least nine people at the famous Baga Market in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The incident happened around 4pm, witnesses said.

Sources said the woman targeted worshippers who were observing Asr prayers in front of some shops and succeeded in killing no fewer than nine people, including herself.

Trader Jafar Aliyu said the woman disguised as if she wanted to buy something.

"Like other women, the woman was seen near the Juma'at mosque where worshippers also observe daily prayers but she could not get access to the facility.

"She then went into the market and targeted worshippers, nine bodies have been taken away and many others sustained injuries," he said.

Another lady, who also strapped herself with explosives died before she reached her target near the Baga Market, also in Maiduguri.

"She was targeting some civilian JTF near the Dewak (old company) but the bombs in her body exploded," a vendor, who sells newspapers close to the scene, said.

Details will follow...

Source:
Dailly Trust Newspaper

Buhari Orders Dismantling of Military Check Points Across Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered immediate removal of military check points nationwide.

This was disclosed to State House correspondents by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Ismail Aliyu, after about five hours defence briefing to the President at the State House, Abuja.

He said the police will take over internal security.

Aliyu maintained that the Boko Haram insurgency will soon be over.

He said the Lake Chad Basin Commission nations are coming up with strategies to tackle the problem of insecurity.

He said: “The President has instructed the Chief of Defence Staff to get the Chief of Army Staff and Inspector General of Police to remove all the military men along the road across the country.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces are very ready, we have briefed him. One most interesting thing about it is that we are going out much happier because he has shown to us that he is still a soldier, he has updated and enriched our strategic plans.

“The second item that was discussed is the movement of the command centre to the Northeast. We have briefed him on how far we have reached on that and he has given us some additional assignment, but very soon the centre will be on.

“I also want to assure Nigerians that with what we have come out with from this meeting we are very enthusiastic that the issue of Boko Haram will soon be over.  He has given us hope that we will see peace and security in the very near future.

On what will be done differently, he said: “Now we have come as a united front, we have Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger. We have all strategised and we are coming out with one type of strategy that we are going to address the Boko Haram with, unlike before.”

He said discussion on change of service chiefs did not come up at the meeting.

 Source:
The Nation Newspaper

Niger Delta Militants Are Taking Up Arms - Intel Report

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh on Friday revealed that intelligence reports available to the Armed Forces showed that the Youths from the Niger Delta region have started taking up arms and engaging in criminal activities along the creeks and the water ways of the region.

Air Mashal Alex Badeh, who made the revelation during the inauguration ceremony of the permanent complex of the Headquarters of the Joint Task Military Force, Operation Pulo Shield, along Igbogene/ Okolobiri road in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said the increase in illegal arms and ammunition possession by youths of the Region has led to an increase in cases of oil theft, kidnapping and other criminal activities in the region.

Badeh said though the Nigerian Armed Forces entered into an agreement with the Niger Delta youths and former militants to disarm and partner with the Federal Government on empowerment and development initiatives,the recent cases of criminality may force the military to review such agreement and turn its arsenal on the region.

According to Badeh, “Criminalities in the Niger Delta, we thought, have stopped but now they are on the rise again. But I know that our gallant men and women are equal to the task. We are after the bad men, we are good men and darkness can never overtake light. No nation can develop in the presence of so much criminality.”

Source:
Leadership Newspaper

Crude Oil Theft: NSCDC Set To Deploy Drones, Aircrafts For Aerial Surveillance

Dr Ade Abolurin, Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says the Corps had concluded plans to deploy about 500 drones and aircraft for proper surveillance of oil installations in the country. Abolurin disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with senior officers of the Corps as part of efforts to strengthen its operational strategy.

He said that the move was in line with the new administration’s resolve to tackle the issue of oil theft headlong to boost the economic revenue accrued to the country. The NSCDC boss, who decried the spate of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the country, said the corps was working round the clock to stem the tide.

He said the corps was exploring new ways to monitor and protect the pipelines, especially the use of technology and sophisticated gadgets to track down the vandals. “I can assure you that we are already exploring new approaches which will include the massive deployment of technology as opposed to the outdated conventional approach you are use to,’’ he said.

He said that some drones had already been deployed on a test run basis in some areas in the Niger Delta region such as Bayelsa, to test its efficacy. Abolurin also said that officers of the corp’s anti-vandalism unit had also undergone refresher training in line with international best practice to deal with the menace.

He said that so far this year about, 250 vandals had been directly arrested, while another 100 were arrested by other security agencies and handed over to them for prosecution, with 35 successfully convicted. He said the corps had also stepped up its protection of other critical infrastructure in the country such as power installation, telecommunication masts and equipment so as to ensure better service delivery to Nigerians.

The commandant-general called on the media, host communities and other stakeholders to cooperate with the NSCDC and other security agencies to tackle the challenge of oil theft and pipeline vandalism. On the issue of the recent promotion exercise in the corps, he said the process was done transparently and in line with due process as opposed to insinuations in some quarters.

He assured that the NSCDC would continue to do its best to ensure the security of lives and property in line with its mandate.

Source: Vanguard Newspaper 

U.S Charleston Church Shooting: ''We Avoid the Word Terrorism When The Victims are Black...''

Dylann Roof - Suspect

Terrorism, at least in our national imagination, springs from an ideology of insurgence. Terrorism is radical. It seeks to upset and overturn a society, and to shake it to its foundations. But in America, there are few ideologies less insurgent than the doctrine of white supremacy.

Boko Haram Spreads Terror to Niger Republic, killing At Least 40

The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has gone out of Nigeria to spread terror in neighbouring Niger for the second time, killing at least 40 people in two towns.

Nigeria Spends N4.62 trillion on National Security in 5 years, Yet Pervasive Insecurity Prevails - Premium Times

Amidst claims by Nigerian security agencies that they are being underfunded, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today that a total N4.62trillion has been allocated to the federal security sector in the past five years.

Terrorism: Kenya Police Issue $100,000 For The Capture A German Al-Shabab Fighter

Kenya police have issued a $100,000 bounty for the capture of a German man accused of fighting with al-Shabab in an attack on a military base. Two Kenyan soldiers and 11 al-Shabab militants were killed in the attack.

Convert Andreas M. from Bonn, who uses the alias Abu Nusaybah, is alleged to have taken part in the attack in Lamu county in Kenya on Sunday, which left two  Kenyan soldiers and 11 al-Shabab fighters dead.

Andreas M., 42, was injured during Sunday's attack and is now on the run, according to information from security forces.

Attacks by al-Shabab in Kenya rise

Sunday's attack is part of a growing number of assaults in Kenya carried out by the Somalia-based Islamist al-Shabab group.

Al-Shabab fighters killed 148 people in an attack on Kenya's Garissa University College in April.

Another foreigner, 25-year-old Thomas Evans from the UK, also took part in Sunday's assault and was killed in the fighting. Evans traveled to Somalia to join the militant group in 2012.

The reward for the capture of Andreas M. is part of a police campaign known in Kiswahili as Kaa Chonjo Usinyamaze ("Be alert, Don't Keep Quiet"), which was launched to tackle the threat from the jihadists.

Andreas M. disappeared in Kenya in 2011, before announcing that he had joined al-Shabab in the spring of 2012. He is initially thought to have got in contact with the group via Bonn's Islamic scene, and then traveled to Pakistan before being arrested by country's secret service.

He spent nine months in a local jail, but said afterwards that prison had only cemented his beliefs.

Andreas. M's Eritrean wife and their daughter also traveled with him in 2011 to Somalia. The mother and daughter are thought to be staying in an area of Somalia still controlled by al-Shabab.

Source: 

Deutche Welle 

Chadian Military Carries Out Airstrikes on Boko Haram Positions in Nigeria

Chadian forces are carrying out airstrikes on Boko Haram positions in Nigeria, the Chadian army have confirmed.

It would be recalled that suspected Islamist suicide bombers killed at least 27 people in the Chadian capital N’Djamena on Monday in what appeared to be retaliation by Nigerian militant group Boko Haram for Chad’s leading role in a regional offensive against it.

At least 100 people were injured in two simultaneous attacks at around 9:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on a police headquarters and training school. It was the first strike of its kind in the central African nation, which has emerged as a firm Western ally against Islamist groups in the Sahel.

The government, which said that four Boko Haram fighters were among the 27 dead, announced a raft of measures to tighten security in the capital which serves as the headquarters for a 3,000-strong French mission – known as Barkhane – fighting militancy in the region.

Chad, whose oil revenues have helped it emerge as a military heavyweight in the region, has been a driving force behind a campaign that has inflicted a series of defeats on Boko Haram since January.

More to follow…

Source:

PM News

Terrorism: Home Made Bombs Explode, Kill 63 In Monguno, Borno State

A bag filled with improvised bombs discovered by operatives of the youth vigilante at a deserted camp of Boko Haram near Monguno village in Borno State, has accidentally exploded killing at least 63 persons, witnesses and security sources said.

The explosion, which occurred at about 5pm on Tuesday, had also left many persons injured.

An eyewitness and operative of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Haruna Bukar, told journalists on phone that a group of Civilian-JTF on patrol along Monguno-Marte route stumbled upon a bag containing metallic substances at an area where Boko Haram terrorists had once camped before they were dislodged by Nigerian soldiers in February this year.

“When they found the bag containing what later turned out to be improvised explosives, they brought it to Monguno town where people gathered to take a looks at it. As they were busy fiddling with the content of the bag, the bombs went off with a massive blast that killed about 63 persons and injured dozen others”, said

“It was really a very sad incident that affected many families. Most of those affected are young men and a few number of females”.

An officer of the VGN in Maiduguri, Abbas Gava, had also confirmed the incident to journalists.

“Initially we thought it was a Boko Haram attack as it was being rumored in the town of Maiduguri”, he said. “But when we later checked, we discovered that it was somehow an accidental explosion caused by the foolishness of the Civilian-JTF operatives who discovered such a dangerous device and refusing to call on the police of military that has the expertise to handle such things. 63 persons dying without being attacked is a huge loss. This also further heightened our fears that a lot of sweeping needs to be done by the explosives ordnance department before people are allowed to go back to their liberated homes”.

Monguno is about 137km west of Maiduguri the Borno state capital.

Boko Haram terrorists had on the 25th of January, this year attacked Monguno and sacked a major military barracks there, killing hundreds within and around the town and carted away large number of munitions from the barracks after forcing soldiers to flee alongside civilians.

Nigeria military had on the second week of February retake Monguno from the Boko Haram terrorists after a heated gun battle that allegedly sent the insurgents fleeing.

Source:
Leadership Newspaper

Nigeria’s Lousy Schools Helped Spawn Boko Haram

CALABAR, Nigeria—Officials in Nigeria are always quick to attribute problems of education in the northeast of the country to the Boko Haram insurgency. But figures show that the country had the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, and a very poor standard of education of any kind, long before the sect began its uprising in 2009. And the numbers today are frightening.

IAEA Tasks Nigeria To Ensure Safety, Security of its Nuclear Energy Programme

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has tasked Nigeria on the need to ensure that its nuclear power programme is safe, secured enough to provide electricity for 100 years.

The Deputy Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr Mikhail Chudakov, gave the advice after a closed door meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Defence House, Abuja on Monday.

According to him, Nigeria must be fully prepared and responsible for the safe operation of its nuclear power programme.

“IAEA is not in the position to push some countries to create nuclear power. But if any country decides to create peaceful nuclear power we will be there to help the country and to suggest our programmes in order to operate nuclear power in safe manner.

“Nigeria did a lot in order to create the necessary infrastructure (for nuclear power development).

Dr Mikhail Chudakov and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Defence House

“You should be reminded also that this is a specific source of energy and it should for 100 years and operate (necessary) for 100 years and that is why the country should be prepared for this and should be fully responsible for the safety culture; for safe operation of a nuclear power in the country.”

He commended Nigeria for its efforts toward the development of peaceful nuclear power plants.

In his remarks, Chief Executive of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), Dr Erepamo Osaisai, said the IAEA delegation was in Nigeria to assess the state of readiness of the nation’s nuclear power infrastructure.

He said that the delegation would be in the country for the next two weeks.

“The essence of this is that the IAEA, being the UN nuclear watch dog, is committed to nuclear safety and they are here to work with us to ensure that Nigeria adheres to the highest standard of nuclear safety.

“Their mission will go on here for two weeks and we hope and believe that is going to benefit our country.”

Source:
PM News