THREE YEARS AFTER, SENATE APPROVES CYBER CRIME BILL

When in 2011, Senator Gbenga Kaka (APC, Ogun East) presented a bill to stop cyber crime, it became controversial due to a section related to social media. The bill, which was introduced on 28th July 2011, was targeted at curbing the activities of internet scammers, who always give the country bad name, both locally and internationally. 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. 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.

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. The law 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.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.