The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has raised alarm over the spate of cyber-crimes in the country.
He regretted the high level of cyber-crimes in the country, warning internet and cell phone users to avoid falling victims to internet fraudsters.
Danbatta, who was represented by the Deputy Director Consumer Affairs Bureau, Alhaji Ismail Adedigba, said following the high rate of cyber-crime in the country, the commission came up with a theme, “Mitigating Effects of Cybercrimes: The Roles of Telecom Consumers” this year in order to educate Nigerians on the danger posed by cyber fraudsters.
Speaking yesterday at the 103rd edition of Consumer Outreach Programme (COP), Danbatta said: “In line with our mandate to continuously educate and enlighten the consumers on industry issues, the theme of this event: ‘Mitigating Effects of Cybercrimes: The Roles of Telecom Consumers’ has been carefully chosen in order to sensitize telecoms consumers first, on the rising wave of cybercrime in its various forms, the danger it poses and second, the role which telecoms consumers are expected to play in reducing the impacts of cybercrimes on them.”
According to him, the commission has put in place the Internet Code as an intervention strategy to secure the country’s cyber space “against imminent threats from cyber attackers,” as well as address such issues as online child protection, privacy and data protection.
“While the regulatory intervention and other initiatives are ongoing to sanitise our internet space, telecoms consumers, majority of whom now use internet-enabled and other smart devices, must play their roles,” Danbatta noted.
He promised that the commission will do everything to educate internet users by rolling out various enlightenment education strategies as well as ensuring that its internet industry code of practice was being strictly observed to reduce internet fraud.