By Oluwakemi Kindness
Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has unveiled plans for a Multi-domain Hybrid Intelligence Shield (HIS) project aimed at boosting the country’s fight against terrorism, border crimes, piracy, illegal mining and emerging drone threats.
The minister disclosed this during a strategic working visit to Monaco alongside senior officials of the Ministry of Defence as part of efforts to modernise Nigeria’s defence architecture through advanced surveillance and intelligence technologies.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by Enderline Chukwu, Deputy Director of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Defence, the Federal Government remains committed to strengthening the Armed Forces through strategic partnerships, technology transfer, local capacity development and sustainable defence industrial cooperation.
The visit focused on discussions surrounding the proposed Hybrid Intelligence Shield project in collaboration with MARSS UK Ltd and its Nigerian partner, MPS Mikopowersy Ltd.
Musa said Nigeria must embrace modern technology to improve intelligence gathering, surveillance operations and national security coordination.
“We must therefore leverage technology for intelligence, surveillance and recurring service. We have partners and allies ready to support us. We will reach out to them to work as a team,” he said.
During the engagements, the Nigerian delegation witnessed live demonstrations of radar detection systems, artificial intelligence-powered threat identification, anti-drone interception capabilities and integrated command-and-control security solutions.
Discussions also covered plans for national and regional command centres, mobile response units and the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for simulation, training and doctrine development.
The minister stressed the importance of building indigenous operational capacity while partnering with global allies to confront evolving security threats across the country.
Officials of MARSS UK Ltd and MPS Mikopowers Ltd also showcased the NiDAR integrated command-and-control system, mobile surveillance platforms and border security technologies designed to strengthen Nigeria’s defence and intelligence capabilities.
The Ministry of Defence said the engagements are expected to enhance inter-agency collaboration, operational effectiveness and the country’s broader defence modernisation drive amid growing security challenges.
