Nigeria, Others To Lose 10.5 Trillion To Cybercrimes By 2025 – EFCC Boss

…Digital Financial Crimes, Child Pornography Given Nigeria Bad Name Internationally – IDEAL

From Matthew Ogune, Abuja

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Ola Olukoyede has raised alarm over
projections by multiple sources that the global loss to cybercrimes may reach a staggering $10.5 trillion by 2025, with approximately 2,328 cases occurring daily.

Olukoyede made this revelation on Tuesday in Aburja at the National Summit on Cybercrime organised by the EFCC with the support of the European Union-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC II) Programme of the International IDEA with the theme: Alternatives to Cybercrimes: optimising cyber skills for national development.

Noting the enormity of challenges posed to individuals and the nation by cybercrimes, he regretted that individuals, youths’ involvement in crimes is distorting and corrupting acceptable family values.

He said that the tendency towards quick riches no longer positions young people for enterprise, resourceful intellectual aspirations and technological innovations.

“The implication of all these is that, if left unchecked, cybercrimes portend grave dangers to the entire world.

“These are the realities stoking the Commission’s fight against these crimes. Cybercrime accounts for a significant percentage of the 3455 convictions recorded by the EFCC in my one year as Executive Chairman.

“A significant portfolio of choice assets have also been recovered and returned to both local and foreign victims of cybercrimes by the Commission.

“We are not oblivious of insinuations and misconceptions in some quarters that the Commission is concentrating its operational works on the fight against internet crimes.

“While this narrative is not really true, the fact remains that cybercrime threatens the nation’s most significant asset – its reputation, and economic wellbeing.

“The losses by the financial services sector to cybercrime in the last three years is staggering. We cannot continue to sit idly and watch the integrity of our institutions compromised and our youths degenerate into uselessness. The future of our nation cannot and would not be allowed to hang in the balance. We must take collective actions against cybercrimes.

“Talking about alternatives to cybercrimes, there are ample skills that can be optimized for national development. It is this lack of serious cogitation on the alternatives that has not made our youths shift their focus from criminal tendencies.

“First, there is the alternative of creative and innovative development of socially-beneficial applications that can deliver better prospects than internet fraud.

“Today’s event is tailored towards exposing young Nigerian with strong tech skills to the opportunities that abound in various industries and sectors for legitimate wealth creation and honest livelihood.

“These opportunities can be found in the creative industry, tech ecosystem, financial services sector, medical services and even law enforcement.” He added.

International IDEA Head of Programme, Mr. Danladi Plang in his remarks offered an insight into how the negative use of technology for financial crimes, including child pornography by Nigerian youths is given the country a bad name internationally.

He stated: “Cybercrime is a worldwide phenomenon. The digitalization of various economic and social life sectors in recent years led to an unprecedented increase in the collection and analyses of data.

“Technology offers the ease of convenience for information transfer and storage on a cloud-based system. This increased connectivity increases the possibility and potential for information like personal data, trade secrets, and bank account details to be stolen or leaked.

“Therefore, as technology has progressed, and our reliance upon it has escalated, so in turn cybercrime has intensified.

“Nigeria has a very youthful population, that is versatile in the use of technology. This skill has been used negatively in various forms including in digital financial crime.

“This has not only given the country a bad name internationally, but also a significant threat to the country’s financial system and increased crimes against the person including child pornography.”

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While acknowledging the effort made by the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in fighting cybercrime, Plang stressed the need to rethink Nigeria’s traditional approach of arrest, trial, conviction and imprisonment in fighting crime.

According to him, by focusing on other ways of channelling the energies of youth and their skills in the use of technology, stakeholders will strengthen the cybercrime prevention and response mechanisms and at the same time create more legitimate opportunities for young people.

He noted that the summit will help in increasing public awareness of cybercrime prevention strategies, particularly among Nigerian youth, maintaining that it will also strengthen legal and policy framework for addressing cybercrime and digital financial crimes.