A Security Expert, Christopher Oji, has linked the increasing cases of cyber-crime and criminality in the country to poverty and unemployment.
Oji said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos.
NAN reports that cyber-crime is defined as criminal activities carried out online by means of computers or the internet.
Oji, a former President, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN), said that cyber-crime posed a major security and economic threat to the nation and called on government for urgent action.
According to him, high poverty rate and unemployment levels have driven many young individuals to engage in cyber-crime as a way of escaping their socio-economic hardships.
“There is hardship in the land, no job, no employment, most people get involved in cyber-crime out of frustration.
“However, I am not exonerating criminals.
“With the kind of unemployment we are seeing in the country, I can say that cyber-crime is just starting.
“What we are seeing now is just a tip of the iceberg, what is going to happen will be massive cyber-crime, if the issues involved are not dealt with.
“If the causal factors are not addressed, there will be nothing the police or anti-crime agency can do about it because ‘he that is down need fear no fall’.
“It is said that an idle man’s heart is the devil’s workshop, If a graduate cannot get a job, he begins to think of criminal acts and may end up venturing into crime.
“Companies are packing up, some multinationals have exited Nigeria, where will the people who are laid off work? What will they do?
“Some even have jobs but the salary cannot sustain them because of the high cost of living as salary remains stagnant,” he said.
Mr Oji said that the situation had become aggravated for some people who went into farming, because they have had to abandon their farms after being attacked.
He urged the government to organise economy and security summit where these issues would be addressed.
“The government should consult experts and hold summits, where the experts can educate the people on how the economy can be made viable,” he said.
According to him, the primary objective of government is to protect lives and property, and to provide enabling environment for the citizens to thrive and not for any personal agenda.
“They should do something about bandits terrorising farmers, so that they can go to their farms in peace, if not there is going to be hunger and food insecurity in the land,” the expert said.
Mr Oji urged the government to seek foreign aid, if they believed that victory in the fight against insecurity required it.
According to him, arresting cyber-criminals is difficult, because the culprits do not use their accounts to perpetuate the crime.
He added that victims of cyber-crime in Nigeria would always back out from the case, due to the high cost of pursuing justice, thereby leaving everything for God.
Mr Oji said that the fight against cyber-crime could only be won, if the issues of unemployment, insecurity and poverty are addressed.
The expert urged the public to be vigilant and to safeguard their personal information.
“Protect your personal information, which includes your bank account details by keeping it confidential and secure,” Oji said.
