Expert Wants Emergency Squad For Cyber Crime

An Information and Communications Technology (ICT) expert, Mr. Deolu Okanlawon, has said that, for Nigeria to win the war against cyber crime, the country has a long way to go. It is his view therefore that the time had come for the government to, as a matter of urgency, set up a Cyber Crime Emergency Squad to handle cyber threat and crime.

Okanlawon, who spoke recently at a lecture, organised by the Nigeria Computer Society, Ogun State Chapter, disclosed that a research by an international organisation has revealed that Nigeria is ranked number three in Internet crime, adding “We have so much to do in the fight against cyber terrorism in Nigeria”.

Okanlawon, who is the head of Information Communication Technology Security of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) explained to an audience of a lecture he delivered in Abeokuta: “When you recognise that the issue of information security or cyber crime is global, it defeats the saying that the government is doing enough because they are dealing with a global threat”.

He warned that any nation that becomes careless or ignorant about information security is not safe. “This is because”, he explained, “If Internet technology gets to terrorists, they can use it to send and control bombs”..       He stated that even though the Nigerian security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are not doing badly in terms of fighting cyber terrorism “but when you recognise that cyber crime is global, it defeats the argument that government is doing enough because they are dealing with global threat.