The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has raised fresh alarms over Nigeria’s worsening security vulnerabilities, revealing that terrorist groups have shifted from conventional mobile networks to satellite-based communication systems.
The agency’s Director-General, Dr. Matthew Adepoju, disclosed this on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, warning that shutting down mobile networks during security operations no longer disrupts criminal activities.
“It breaks my heart when state governments shut down communication on our mobile phones, because most of them are not actually communicating through mobile networks.
They are making it through the satellite platform. The terrorists are using satellites to communicate,” Adepoju said.
He explained that many Nigerians misunderstand the capabilities of the country’s current satellites, which are primarily designed for imaging rather than real-time surveillance.
“The ones the military has and the ones we’ve launched are imagers. They don’t record videos and they orbit the globe, so rapid response to fast-moving threats is difficult,” he noted.
Currently, Nigeria’s NigeriaSat-1, NigeriaSat-X, and NigeriaSat-2 satellites take an average of three days to revisit the same location.
However, President Bola Tinubu recently approved the launch of a new satellite constellation that will reduce revisit times to four to six hours, depending on orbital placement.
Adepoju added that NASRDA plans to expand its fleet with four to five additional satellites to achieve near real-time monitoring capacity, stressing the need for sustained investment in research-driven security tools.
In addition, the agency has secured an agreement with a U.S.-based technical partner operating nearly 300 satellites to provide advanced signal analytics, aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s intelligence-gathering capabilities. However, the partnership remains inactive due to delayed funding.
The development comes months after the Federal Executive Council approved four new satellites—three Earth-observation and one radar satellite—to improve the country’s ability to monitor criminal activity.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, said the radar satellite would provide imaging “day, night, during rain, every time of the day,” supporting military operations in high-risk areas like the Sambisa Forest.
Adepoju also clarified that Nigeria did not lose a satellite, as reported in some quarters, explaining that the decommissioned satellite suffered power issues from a malfunctioning solar panel.
Despite these challenges, plans for Nigeria’s first astronaut are ongoing in partnership with the Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), with the selection process currently underway.
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