A PAPER DELIVERED BY SENATOR BUHARI ABDULFATAI AT LAW WEEK OF FACULTY OF LAW OF THE LEAD CITY UNIVERSITY IBADAN ON 7TH MARCH, 2017.
INTRODUCTION
Cybercrime remains one of the perturbing issues in our contemporary society. It constitutes a worldwide problem as there seems to be no state beyond vulnerability. Today, cybercrime and cybersecurity have become perhaps some of the most critical issues for almost all governments that are significant actors on the global economic field (Olowu,2009).
In Nigeria, like other parts of the world, cybercrime is problematic. The contribution of internet to the development of our nation has been marred by the evolution of new waves of crime. The internet has also become an environment where the most lucrative and safest crime thrives in Nigeria.
While cybercrime cannot be left untamed, numerous writers, policymakers, public analysts, civil society groups and law enforcers have called for stringent and innovative laws to prevent and punish cybercrime offenders. Self-protection while essential is not sufficient to make cyberspace a safe place for individuals or group, the rule of law must be enforced.
The legislative as an arm of government saddled primarily with the responsibility of law making must be committed enough to adopt appropriate legislation against the misuse of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for criminal or other purposes and activities intended to affect the integrity of national critical infrastructures (Adebusuyi, 2008). Not only that, they must be up and doing in legislation of laws for general development of the country, security and welfare of the citizenry.
The Nigerian state is vulnerable to the emerging challenges of cyber-criminal activities due to low level of legislative response and commitment to cybercrime. Until 2015, there was no cybercrime legislation in Nigeria. This lack of legislation served as a hindrance to the expansion of the broadband network in Nigeria and cemented its status as the third country with the highest rate of cybercrime in the world.
The National Assembly in the public eye of Nigerians seems not to be committed due to the expansion of broadband internet and the absence of adequate regulatory measures to crack down on cyber criminals. It now seems that cyber criminals in Nigeria take advantage of weakness in cybercrime legislation and nascent systems of law enforcement leading to a proliferation of these illicit activities.
Paradoxically speaking, legislative commitment is incontrovertibly needed to prevent against cybercrime. This paper will examine as well as argue for the need for legislative commitment to combating cybercrime in Nigeria.
STATING THE PROBLEM
Cybercrime is an image trauma for Nigeria. It is a source of concern and embarrassment for the nation. Statistically, Nigeria loses about 127 billion naira annually to cybercrime (NSA, 2016). A figure which represents 0.8% of the country’s GDP and a figure which will continue to grow unless the National Assembly acts fast and intensifies its efforts in preventing this unwholesome act.
Nigeria has been ranked third in global internet crimes coming after United States of America and United Kingdom respectively. In the year 2015, the Information Security Society of Nigeria (ISSAN) revealed that 25% of the cybercrimes in Nigeria are unresolved and that 7.5% of the world’s hackers are Nigerians.
In 2014 alone, EFCC reported that customers in Nigeria lost about 6 billion naira to cyber criminals, while NDIC (2015) showed a 183% increase on the e-payment platform in Nigerian banks.
In a similar development the CBN (2015) report showed that 70% of attempted or successful fraud/forgery cases in Nigeria banking system were perpetrated via the electronic channels. Banks in Nigeria have lost approximately 159 billion naira to electronic frauds and cybercrime between 2000 and 2013 and the impact on the nation’s economy and cash less policy is significant.
The absence of enabling laws or appropriate law to guarantee the legality of online transactions, continue to create fear in the mind of users and potential online users. The problem is the need for legislative commitment which is considered an integral component of a national cyber security that will make policing easier.
OBJECTIVESOF THE STUDY
The main objective of this paper is to measure the commitment of the Nigerian Legislatures in the prevention of cybercrime in Nigeria with reference to the 7th and 8th Assemblies.
The specific objectives are to;
I. Examine cybercrime legislations in Nigeria.
II. Identify whether there is need for updating such cybercrime legislations.
III. Improve the commitment of the National Assembly on cybercrime issue in Nigeria.
CAUSES OF CYBERCRIME IN NIGERIA
Scholars have made appreciative efforts to discover the various causes of cybercrime in Nigeria. No doubt without the identification of these causes it may be difficult to tame the monster. As revealed by many literatures, the causes of cybercrime in Nigeria include but not limited to the under listed;
Urbanization,
Unemployment,
Quest for wealth,
Weak implementation of cybercrime laws and inadequate equipped law agencies,
Negative role models,
High rate of poverty,
Corruption,
Lack of standards and natural central control,
Lack of infrastructure,
Lack of national functional data bases,
Proliferation of cyber cafes,
Porous nature of the internet and
Emergence of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp etc.
EXPLORING THE NEXUS BETWEEN CYBERCRIME AND LEGISLATION
There exists a sharp connection between the extent to which cybercrimes can be prevented in a country with adequate and effective cybercrime legislation. According to McConnel (2000) National government remains the dominant authority for regulating criminal behavior in most places in the world. If a nation has already struggled from and ultimately improved its legal authority after a confrontation with the unique challenge presented by cybercrime. It is crucial that other nations profit from this lesson and examine their current laws to discern whether they are composed in a technologically neutral manner that would not execute the prosecution of cyber criminals.
Effective cybercrime legislation ensures cybersecurity which helps people reduce vulnerability of their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and networks, helps individuals and institutions develop and nurture a culture of cybersecurity and also helps understand the current trends in IT/cybercrime and develop effective solutions.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITMENT AND CYBERCRIME PREVENTION IN NIGERIA
The National Assembly of Nigeria has vital role to play in preventing the threat posed by cybercrime. It is required of the National Assembly of Nigeria to legislate upon illegal access, illegal interception, data interference, system interference, misuse of devices, computer related forgery, computer related fraud, offences related to child pornography, offences related to infringements of copy rights and related rights, attempts and aiding or abetting – all related to cybercrime.
However, the commitment of National Assembly of Nigeria in the past can be said to have not been fruitful and successful. Until 2015, there were over 100 IT related bills before the Nigeria Legislature – the National Assembly, none of which was passed into law. Some of these bills are Computer Security and Critical Information infrastructure protection Bill 2005, Cyber Security and Data protection Agency (Establishment etc) 2008, Electronic Fraud Prohibition Bill 2009, Computer Misuse Bill 2009, Electronic Transaction Protection Bill 2009, Electronic Communication Privacy Bill 2011, Electronic Fraud and Electronic Transfer of Fund Crime Bill 2011, Electronic Transaction Bill, Intellectual Property Commission Bill, Evidence Act Amendment Bill, Harmonized Cybersecurity Bill, Cybercrime Bill among others.
Nevertheless, the Cybercrime Act was finally passed into law in 2015 by the 7th Assembly and Electronic Transactions Bill passed in 2016 by the 8th Assembly. Before the enactment of these legislations, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission EFCC which is charged with the responsibility for the enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws among other things utilized the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related offences Act, 2006 (AFF Act) in its fight against cybercrime especially as it relates to online fraud.
The problems that arose from the use of the AFF Act were that the Act was limited, reactive rather than proactive, silent on where to report cyber-attacks and not robust enough to cover cybercrimes such as hacking, cyber espionage and terrorism, cyber pornography and such.
The commitment of the Nigeria legislature to curb the menace of cybercrime gradually changed in the recent years. The passing of the Cybercrime Act 2015 and Electronic Transactions Bill 2016 substantiate our argument.
Also, in its commitment towards curbing cybercrime in the country the leadership of the 8th Senate created a standing committee named Senate Committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Cybercrime. The jurisdiction of the committee includes National Information Development Agency, NITDA, Nigerian Communication Satellite, Galaxy Backbone Ltd, All matters concerning Information and Communication (ICT) development and utilization in Nigeria, All matters of cyber security and cybercrime control etc.
CYBERCRIME (PROHIBITION, PREVENTION ETC) ACT 2015
The Cybercrime Act of 2015 now provides an effective unified legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the prohibition, prevention, detection, prosecution and punishment of cybercrimes in Nigeria. The Act classifies cybercrime offences to be the following Unlawful access to a Computer, system interference, Tampering with critical infrastructure, Computer related forgeries, Online fraud, Child pornography, Cyber terrorism, identify theft, Cyber stalking, Bullying, Harassment, Squatting, Racist and Xenophobic offences, Dealing in e-tools, Breach of confidence by service providers, Manipulation of ATM and POS Terminals, Phishing, Spamming etc.
Sections 5 – 40 of the Act provides penalties for the above offences if a person is found liable to be:
I. Conviction to imprisonment for a term not more than 10 years without an option of fine.
II. Conviction to imprisonment for a term not more than 15 years without an option of fine.
III. Conviction to life imprisonment.
IV. Conviction to imprisonment for a term not more than 5 years or to a fine of not more than N5,000,000: K or both.
V. Imprisonment for a term of not more than 7 years or fine of not more than N7,000,000:00K among others.
Section 42 of the Cybercrime Act 2015 provides for the establishment of the cybercrime Advisory Council. The 31- man council was inaugurated on the 18th of April, 2016 in Abuja and it is statutory chaired by the NSA and members drawn from the EFCC, ICPC, DSS, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, Ministries of Trade and Investment, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Justice, Nigeria Stock Exchange, Nigerian Prison Service, Nigeria Police Force, Galaxy Backbone, Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency NITDA, Nigerian Communications Commission NCC, Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, National Intelligence Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency, among others.
The council has statutory responsibility to create enabling environment for members to share knowledge, experience, intelligence, and provide recommendation for prevention, combating and promotion of cyber security in Nigeria.
The Act requires cyber cafes to register as a business concern with Computer Professional’s Registration Council in addition to registration with CAC and also to maintain a register of users through a sign in register. This register should be made available by the owner of the cyber café to law enforcement personnel when required.
THE ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS BILL 2016
Unlike the Cybercrime Act 2015 which had been assented to by thePresident, the Electronic Transactions Bill 2016 is still awaiting assent by the executive. This bill if signed into law will provide legal and regulatory framework for:
I. Conducting transactions using electronic or related media.
II. The protection of the rights of consumers and other parties in electronic transactions and services.
III. The protection of personal data and
IV. Facilitating electronic commerce in Nigeria.
Clause 12 (i) of the bill provides that the administration of electronic signature shall be in accordance with rules, guidelines, and standards as may be prescribed by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
(ii) In consonance with the freedom of Information requirements, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA is empowered by this subsection to review activities, establish, maintain and publish a register of Electronic Signature Certification Services.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusively one can say that the National Assembly (7th and 8th) have done much in creation and inauguration of a standing committee for ICT and Cybercrime and in the passage of both the Cybercrime Act 2015 and the Electronic Transactions Bill 2016. This does not in any way make its commitment high in the public eye because much still need to be done. The complete implementation of these Acts and compliance from the executive, judiciaryand the citizenry are required.
The National Assembly should realize that the low awareness of the general public particularly users of the internet may hamper the process and implementation of the provisions of the Acts. They are also enjoined to be more pragmatic and proactive in legislation for curbing of cybercrime in the country.
Although ignorance of the law is not an excuse, however, cybercrime having been encoded in the “DNA” of a large percentage of Nigerian youths, the government will have to educate the public on the criminality of some conducts.
Finally, the security experts, public analysts, stakeholders, policy makers, civil society groups and the organized private sector are all enjoined to assist the National Assembly in fight against cybercrime by bringing up memos, drafts, proposals and participating in National Assembly Public Hearings and Symposiums whenever they are invited for inputs into cybercrime/ cybersecurity and other important bills for the development of the country.
Thank you all for listening.
REFERENCES
Adebusuyi, A. (2008) “The Internet and Emergence of Yahoo Boys Sub culture in Nigeria”, International Journal of Cyber Criminology Vol. 2(2) 368- 381.
CBN (2015) Financial Report.
Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.
Economic Confidential (2008) Nigerian Banks Lost NGN 6 Billion to Cyber Criminality. 28th August, 2008.
Electronic Transactions Bill 2016.
McConnell (2000) “Cybercrime and Punishment? Archaic Laws Threaten Global Information”. (Online) Available. http:www.mcconellinternational.com/services/cybercrime.htm Accessed on 20th Febaury,2017.
Nykodym, N & Taylor, R. (2004) “The World’s Current Legislative Efforts against Cybercrime” Computer Law and Security Report 20 (5) 390- 401.
Okonigene, R.E. &Adekanle, B. (2009) “Cyber-crime in Nigeria” Business Intelligent Journal.
Olowu, D (2009) Cybercrimes and the Boundaries of Domestic Legal Responses: Case for an Inclusionary Framework for Africa” Journal of Information, Law and Technology (1) 1- 18
Vanguard Newspaper, 19th April,2016.
