When Nigeria's telecoms revolution took off after the licensing of GSM
operators in 2001, it heralded positive developments for Nigerians as
a people, and the economy in general. Communications among Nigerians
and between Nigeria and the rest of the world, which was very
difficult, became simplified almost overnight.
As the GSM operators penetrated the virgin market, information
technology devices became prime gadgets for acquisition by Nigerians.
In no time, computers with internet connections became ubiquitous, and
with the coming of data services, devices with mobile internet
capability became choice attraction. When the tablet computer took the
world by storm, Nigeria and Nigerians were not left out as tablets of
various brands found their way to Nigeria, and were promptly gobbled
up by a population whose desire to communicate became almost
insatiable.
Thus, Nigerians joined the rest of the world in being active in
cyberspace. Thousands, even millions, opened email accounts, and
started playing games online. E-commerce gained ground, and online
retailers are smiling to the banks. But like every good thing, the
ugly came with it.
Scammers started operating in cyberspace, ripping off the unwary.
While the Police and other law-enforcement agents tried their best, a
major flaw existed: there was simply no law that captures cybercrime
and prescribes punishment for cyber criminals.
It was this that prompted many interest groups in the ICT arena to
clamour for a cyber crime law to regulate activities in the sector as
well as to take care of the criminally-minded.
Only recently, the Senate passed the long-awaited Cyber Crime Bill into law.
It would be recalled that in the past 10 years, several bills on
cybercrime had been pushed to the National Assembly by the Nigerian
Information Technology experts, but none scaled through the final
reading on the floor of the Senate.
Many of the bills did not even get a mention, but recently, one of the
bills eventually passed through the final reading and was approved by
Senate, a development that has drawn commendations from ICT
professionals in the country.
In 2011, Senator Gbenga Kaka (APC, Ogun East) had presented a bill to
stop cybercrime. But the bill came under controversy due to a section
related to social media.
In January, President Goodluck Jonathan in the bill titled,
"Cybercrime Bill, 2013", which was routed through the Senate
President, David Mark, had urged members of the upper legislative
chamber to consider its enactment into law.
The bill introduced July 28, 2011, was targeted at curbing the
activities of internet scammers, who always give the country bad name,
both locally and internationally.
Cybercrime
Cybercrime is a term for any illegal activity that uses a computer as
its primary means. It also includes any illegal activity that uses a
computer for the storage of evidence.
Cybercrimes include crimes that have been made possible by computers,
such as network intrusions and the dissemination of computer viruses,
as well as computer-based variations of existing crimes, such as
identity theft, stalking, bullying and terrorism.
The passage of the bill is also part of the continuation of measures
towards safeguarding the nation's presence in cyberspace while
ensuring protection of critical national information infrastructure.
Accordingly, the bill provides for the prohibition, prevention,
detection, response, investigation and prosecution of Cyber Crimes and
for other related matters, 2014.
Boosts Nigeria's image
One thing is clear with the passage of the bill. Cyber crimes,
especially the advanced fee fraud popularly known as419are expected to
be reduced to the barest minimum.
Similarly, with the passage of the bill, notable official government
websites including that of National Information Technology Development
Agency (NITDA), the country's clearing house for IT projects will now
be adequately protected..
Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Committee, Sen. Umaru Dahiru, while
presenting the report before the Senate for consideration and passage
said that the bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the
implementation and evaluation of response and preventive measures in
the fight against cyber crime in line with international best
practices.
Provisions of the law
It provides a legal framework for the prohibition and punishment of
electronic fraud and cybercrime whilst promoting e-government
services, electronic communications and transactions between public
and private bodies as well as institutions and individuals.
The law has criminalized certain acts and omissions in line with
regional and international best practices and provide procedural
guidelines for the investigation of such offences.
--Vanguard
