Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
As part of his familiarization tour to agencies under the Ministry of Defence, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Richard Pheelangwah visited the leadership of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Wednesday, 18th March, 2026, in Abuja. This was contained in a statement signed by Queenet Iheoma-Hart (CIO), For: Director, Press, and Public Relations.
Mr Pheelangwah acknowledged the commitment and professionalism of the personnel in the Agency towards safeguarding the country and its citizens. He underscored their crucial role in intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing and strong interagency collaboration within and among security agencies, which have been instrumental to the successes recorded in the fight against terrorism, banditry and other security threats being faced by the country. He attributed this to the visionary leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
Reiterating the importance of DIA in planning of security concerns, Pheelangwah enjoined the Agency to continually adapt cutting edge technologies to be up to date and speed so as to always meet up with current challenges. He also noted that highly skilled, well trained, and welfare of the workforce should be paramount for the agency in order to boost personnel’s morale.
While praising the resilience of personnel working at DIA, the Permanent Secretary reaffirmed the Ministry’s determination to strengthen the capabilities of DIA to continue to work for the country.
In his response, the Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency (CDI), Lieutenant General Emmanuel Parker Undiandeye noted that the meeting was a good opportunity to inform the audience of the interconnected roles within the intelligence community.
According to him, collaboration is critical for protecting the nation from threats such as terrorism, extremism, kidnappings, and cybercrime.
Highlighting the role of Defence Intelligence Agency as that,which seek to proactively prevent and liquidate threats posed to the nation, the CDI noted that the Agency’s proactive approach is aimed at providing early warnings to armed forces and security agencies. For him, the deployment of human, technical, and liaison resources ensures staying ahead of adversaries. He also added that accuracy and precision in intelligence operations are key, he maintained.
Despite major constraints of limited capacity, equipment shortages, and funding issues, Undiandeye revealed some milestone achievements of the Agency such as, minimal complaints of unintended targeting in the past two years, minimized human rights abuses and civilian casualties. He also revealed that Training, Technology, and Preventive Intelligence have remained priorities for the agency, as no fewer than 1,300 personnel have been trained in intelligence and related skills. Furthermore, Lieutenant General Parker Undiandeye noted that preventive and proactive intelligence work of the Agency has improved due to technological advancements, noting that the secret of the Agency’s successful outcomes lies with its ability to combine multiple technologies.
While commending Mr. President and the Ministers of Defence for their support in securing some funding, he
appealed for additional resources to cover staff living expenses at defence missions, adequate and timely release of operational funds for local operations, and acquisition of new operational platforms.
Present at the event are the Directors from the Ministry and the DIA and the principal staff officers of the agency.
END
