By Kayode Araba
This was disclose in his remarks while declaring open a one-day public hearing on the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 at the Senate Complex, Abuja, in meeting room where senate president was represented by Senate leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, harped on the need to establish a comprehensive legal framework to deter, investigate, pursue and prosecute cyber criminals.
Therefore, he stated that In this age of rapid technological advancement and widespread internet usage, cybercrime has emerged as a grave menace to our society, economy and personal security exploited our weak cybercrime laws, thereby tarnishing the reputation of our country.
They engaged in a wide array of illegal activities, such as hacking, identity theft, fraud, harassment and cyber terrorism. These crimes not only inflicted significant financial losses upon our country, Akpabio said also the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in its presentation at the public hearing claimed that Nigeria was losing 500 million dollars annually to all forms of cybercrime including hacking, identity and others activities.
Therefore, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Senator Shuaib Salisu, explained the rationale and national significance of amending the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 he also charged all the stakeholders invited to the public hearing to bring a wealth of knowledge, to stop this cybercrime Senator Salisu noted that the hearing was intended to enhance the effectiveness of the law.
Also the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) called for the amendment of Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act, 2015, arguing that the provisions of the Section undermine freedom of expression and press freedom which was represented by Comrade Jide Oyekunle, Chairman of NUJ FCT Correspondents Chapel, the Union highlighted how members have been harassed, arrested and detained using provisions of Section 24 of the Act.
Thus, Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Shehu Umar, who is the main sponsor of the bill, at the public hearing, expressed concerns about the alarming rate of exploitation and growing threat to cyber security across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
