News agency, AP is reporting that personal records, which includes names and home addresses of family members of employees of Nigeria’s State Security Service have leaked on the internet.
Personal information of more than 50 past and current SSS employees, including that of the agency’s DG – his mobile phone number, and bank account particulars, were posted in the comment section of a website.
AP wrote that the information was leaked along with a threatening message that claimed to come from Boko Haram. .
“This is a national embarrassment,” said one intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as information about the leak was not to have been made public.
Marilyn Ogar, a spokeswoman for the SSS, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday about the leak.
Though the comments have been removed from the website, cached versions of the comments remain online and intelligence service agents have been killed by Boko Haram members in the past.
The list includes former and current agents across the country, including Director-General Ekpeyong Ita. Those reached by the AP who were willing to talk expressed disbelief that sensitive information like that could make its way to the Internet.
“I was shocked to see my details posted on the Internet,” said one former agent, who declined to be named out of safety concerns. “I’ve not heard anything from anybody. I was surprised that such information could be leaked.”
