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The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, has called on parents, guardians to inculcate moral values in their children, wards in order to curb cybercrime.
Oluremi made the call on Wednesday at a Cybercrime Prevention Summit with the theme: “Alternative to Cybercrime: Optimising Cyber Skills for National Security’’, in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was organised for journalists by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in collaboration with the EU-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (EU-ROLAC II) programme.
EU-ROLAC II is a programme of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)
The first lady said that cybercrime was not just a crime against individuals or businesses, but an assault on collective integrity, the nation’s economic stability and the future of the youth.
“Parents need to guide their children appropriately by inculcating good values, morals and a sense of patriotism.
“We must emphasise and entrench the culture of hard work rooted in honesty and dignity of labour among our teeming youth.
“Parents play a pivotal role in raising and guiding their children, wards to be God-fearing.
“Bonds of trust and understanding should be created between parents and their children to allow for open communication, whereby their fears and insecurities could be addressed,’’ she said.
She added that the fight against cybercrime was demanding, hence needed a multi-dimensional stakeholders approach.
Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukayode, raised concern over the increase of cybercrime in Nigeria, disclosing that Nigeria lost over 500 million dollars to the menace in 2022.
Olukayode further disclosed that the commission, in the year under review, convicted 3,455 suspects in Nigeria on cybercrimes, adding that about 2,328 cases of cyber fraud occurred daily worldwide.
He said that there were projections by multiple sources show the global loss to cybercrime may reach a staggering 10.5 trillion dollars.
According to him, the advancement of technology has also influenced cybercrimes, as persons under the aegis of parents of cyber criminals popularly called Yahoo boys, protest the arrests of suspects.
“The commission is shifting in operation from interrogation to making concerted efforts to provide solutions by redirecting the skills to control the situation, as Nigerian youths are highly resourceful and intelligent.
“The commission is planning to launch a research and rehabilitation centre to educate people, especially ex-victims, to create opportunities for them to stop committing crimes.
“The government needs to provide working alternatives for its teeming youth, because it will tackle the menace of cybercrime which is grievous, distorting and corrupting acceptable family values.
“The menace of cybercrime, like most economic and financial crime, is a burning challenge that we cannot ignore, deny or wish away,’’ he said.
According to him, the tendency towards quick riches no longer positions our young people for enterprise, resourceful intellectual aspirations and technological innovations.
Mr Danladi Plang, Head, EU-ROLAC II programme, said that anti-graft agencies, governors and relevant stakeholders needed to make intentional efforts towards the fight against cybercrime.
Plang charged the stakeholders to harness the power of collaboration and cooperation in advancing their shared goals of security and development for the country.
He reiterated the imperative of improving digital education in Nigeria, stating that the increase in technology has exacerbated the attention of criminals, especially the Nigerian youth.
“We use technology which offers us very easy ways and convenience for information transfer and storage, especially in the cloud, that has also increased the attention of criminals, hence cybercrime.
“As technology progresses and our reliance upon it has escalated, cybercrime has also intensified.
“It has been said earlier on that we have a very large population of young people who are very versatile in the use of technology,’’ he said.
He added that it was important that all arms of government supported anti-graft agencies to curb cybercrime, saying that when they succeed, it was a collective success and vice versa.
According to Plang, cybercrime is not a Nigerian problem alone and we will continue to support this effort, not just on cybercrime, but other crimes as well.
He also said that the summit offered the opportunity to help increase public awareness of cybercrime and strengthen legal and policy measures
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