NIGERIA’s intelligence community has expanded its investigation into alleged subversive activities aimed at undermining the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with four influential former militant leaders and a retired top amnesty official now placed under close surveillance.
According to credible intelligence sources, who spoke to News Point Nigeria, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) are jointly monitoring these individuals, who have been classified as “Persons of Specific Concern” (PSC) due to their suspected links with detained senior military officers currently under interrogation.
Security insiders revealed that: three of the ex-militant commanders were once part of the infamous “Big Five” who shaped the militant uprising that led to the 2009 Presidential Amnesty programme under late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Two are from Rivers State, one from Bayelsa, and one from Ondo State.
A retired military officer who once led the Presidential Amnesty Office is also being scrutinized.
One of the arrested officers under DSS custody reportedly has a longstanding association with one of the Niger Delta figures being monitored, a relationship linked to election security arrangements for former Bayelsa Governorship candidate Timipre Sylva in 2015.
Sources disclosed that the individuals in question attended three suspicious meetings with the detained military officer: One in Kaduna, one in Minna, Niger State and one in Port Harcourt
These meetings, observed over the past three months, raised significant red flags for national security trackers.
“We have not concluded that they are directly involved in the subversive plot,” a senior intelligence official told News Point Nigeria.
“But their repeated engagements with those already cooperating with investigators demand close scrutiny.”
The official emphasized that no formal accusations have been made , yet.
Investigators are also exploring a possible financial grievance as a motive.
According to another intelligence source, the surveillance targets appear angry over federal government patronage, worth multiple billions being awarded solely to one powerful Niger Delta figure instead of being shared among former militant leaders.
“They feel sidelined,” the source said. “Some officials sympathetic to them allegedly began holding subversive discussions that gradually escalated into dangerous ideologies.”
Security agencies believe greed, regional power rivalry and political bitterness could be driving forces behind the covert alignments now under review.
Officials insist that ongoing intelligence operations are preventive, not punitive.
More arrests may follow depending on: data from monitored communications, confessions by detained military personnel and financial intelligence-tracking results.
“Until profiling is concluded, we are simply observing movements and associations,” the defence source added.