Senate Vows To Safeguard Nigeria’s Cyberspace Against Cybercrime
By Lekan Sowande, Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has reiterated its commitment to ensure Nigerian cyberspace is well protected and secured from cybercrime activities for socio-economic growth.
The Chairman Senate Committee on ICT cyber crime Senator Afolabi Salihu gave the assurance during an oversight visit to the Police Force National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja.
Senator Afolabi said the objective of the oversight is to find out the constraints of the Centre and in what areas the National Assembly can assist it in discharging its constitutional mandate effectively and efficiently.
He said recently criminal activities have been on the rise through the use of technology and cyberspace to the extent that criminals such as kidnappers, bandits and cyber criminals now freely use their mobile phones to demand for ransom or transact using the cyber system.
He said these and many more cases of insecurity have forced the committee to visit the centre for the first time to find out if there is anything the committee can do to assist the centre.
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According to the chairman, the centre is the only security agency constitutionally mandated for the internal security of the nation and the committee is visiting to see what they are doing in its efforts to avert cybercrime which is on the rise.
He said, “We have listened to them and the committee is determined to support them in whatever way possible to be able to address the security challenges using cyberspace”.
He also said the committee is ever ready to collaborate with other security agencies in ensuring that cybercrime is reduced for sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.
Internal and external aggression
In his response, the Director of the centre CP Uche Ifeanyi said usually in cybercrime, the perpetrators use the available digits they find in doing their crimes.
He therefore cautioned that whenever such happens, one needs to urgently report to the centre for immediate assistance.
As for the function of the agency, CP Ifeanyi said the centre apart from its constitutional mandate to protect lives and properties, also protects other agencies such as the National Assembly and the cyberspace of Nigeria from internal and external aggression.
He also outlined some of the challenges facing the agency.
According to him some of the challenges include “reviewing the Laws to domesticate the services of foreign telecommunication companies operating in the country and adequate budgetary provisions to be able to maintain the centre, in terms of training manpower, maintaining the equipment and updating the software”.
He gave an assurance that the centre will continue to do its best to ensure that Nigerian cyberspace is adequately secured from cyber criminals.
Emmanuel Ukoh
