The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, says the agency’s planned NigComSat-2A and 2B satellites will strengthen Nigeria’s fight against insecurity by supporting criminal surveillance and addressing communication gaps faced by troops on the frontline.
Egerton-Idehen disclosed this during an interview on Sunrise Daily, where she explained that the new satellites would provide enhanced technical capabilities to support the country’s defence and security architecture.
According to her, satellite technology can be deployed for surveillance and tracking in response to security challenges, including kidnapping.
“Satellite comes in, and we can track criminals with it. Surveillance is part of the things you can do with satellites, yes. So, if there’s a kidnapping somewhere—because these are the actual realities that we’re dealing with—with the development of 2A and 2B, without divulging too much, there are a lot of ways you can do surveillance,” she said.
She explained that satellite imagery, digital mapping and tracking technologies could be deployed for surveillance, depending on the equipment or technology available to security personnel.
Egerton-Idehen also identified communication as one of the major challenges confronting security forces operating in remote and difficult terrains.
She noted that troops deployed to areas such as the Sambisa Forest sometimes struggle to maintain reliable communication with command and control centres.
“We have our armed forces or the people in the defence sector, and sometimes their biggest challenge is communication. You’re going to put them in Sambisa Forest to go and fight there, and there is no way to talk to command and control. That is very difficult,” she said.
The NIGCOMSAT boss added that even when communication channels are available, they could be vulnerable to interception or compromise.
“And sometimes there is a way, but it’s not secure because it gets compromised, and they get compromised. That’s what we’re saying,” she added.
She said the new satellite technology would provide the defence sector with enhanced and secure communication capabilities on a larger scale.
“That’s what we want to enable our defence sector to do—and not just to enable them in a small way, but also at a large scale,” she said.
“So there’s a lot of focus to do this so that we can support them; they do need those tools.”
Egerton-Idehen appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the delivery timeline for the NigComSat-2A and 2B projects, stressing that the satellites would provide long-term benefits for national security and the country’s digital economy.
Earlier this month, NIGCOMSAT announced that the Federal Executive Council had approved the acquisition and deployment of the NigComSat-2A and 2B communications satellites.
The agency said the satellites would expand internet access and improve connectivity across Nigeria, particularly by ensuring that communities are not left behind in the country’s growing digital economy.
