TABLE OF CONTENTS

` PAGES
COVER PAGE
TITLE PAGE
DECLARATION
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CASES
TABLE OF STATUTES
ABBREVIATIONS
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objective/purpose of the Study
1.4 Scope of the Study
1.5 Significance of the Study
1.6 Research Methodology
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HISTORY OF CONCEPTS
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Literature Review
2.3 History of Concepts
2.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE
CYBERCRIMES IN NIGERIA
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Cyber crimes in Nigeria
3.3 Existing Legal Regime for Combating Cyber crimes
3.4 The Nigerian Cyber Security Bill 2011: An Analysis
and Critic
3.5 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR
COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES OF
CYBERCRIMES AND THE NIGERIAN CYBERSECURITY BILL 2011
4.1 Introduction
4.2 International Legislative Framework on Cyber crimes
4.3 Cybercrime Legislation in other Jurisdictions
4.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Notwithstanding the inadequacies of cyber law in Nigeria, the crimes

have been on increase. And when anyone is caught in the act, it

becomes a problem on how to resolve some procedural problems as

there is currently no law regulating Cybercrimes in Nigeria. The

issues that may arise are the purpose of this research work, the

scope, the significance and the research method used will be

discussed in this chapter.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Advancements in Information and Communication Technologies

(ICTs) have led to the representation of different types of information

in electronic formats. The consequence is that currently text, pictures

and voice can all be digitized. Along with these geometric changes in

information presentation and distribution are tandem demands in

user expectations for more rapid, open and global access to

information than has been available in the past. However, this

migration from traditional communication medium to the new media

seems to constitute a threat to the existence of a number of

traditional print institutions and has provided a platform for

fraudulent (criminal) internet activities. Computers are increasingly

more affordable and internet connectivity is also becoming common

place, for instance the introduction of the Global System for Mobile

communication (GSM) in Nigeria and the influx of digital and online

services such as the MP3 players, IPod, cell phones with internet

access and blogs.1

Cybercrime is a major concern to the global community. The

introduction, growth and utilization of information and

Communication technologies (ICTs) have been accompanied by an

increase in criminal activities. Cybercrime is increasingly

astronomical each day as the internet continues to permeate every

nook and cranny of our society and no one can predict the next

dimension. The crime usually attracts attention globally because its

impacts are ubiquitous just as its negative effect is devastating to the

economy and leads to investment phobia.

The proliferation of Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) in Nigeria (just as in other countries) has brought with it

tremendous changes in socio-economic growth and development in

1 Obuh, A.O, Cybercrime Regulation: The Nigerian situation,

different facets of Nigerian economy, banking, insurance, stock

market, law, production services etc. Paradoxically, ICT has also

evolved to become a sophisticated tool in the hand of criminals for

perpetuating different forms of Cybercrime. Unintended

consequences such as email scam, identity theft, child pornography,

organized crime and solicitation for prostitution, fake lotteries and

scam text messages (more frequent on social networks like facebook)

as well as cyber piracy are few of the vices that have become recurring

indices on the internet. A wave of fraudulent mails and other sharp

practices referred to as “419” scamming in Nigerian parlance pervade

the entire web space. This ugly trend acts as a cankerworm against

economic development in Nigeria and has compounded the

challenges facing Nigeria in the fight against corruption and other

vices. It also has the potential to serve as a breeding ground for cyber

terrorism where religious extremists and militants within Nigeria can

recruit, train and plan terrorist attacks with just laptops and internet

access.

There is no doubt from the foregoing that Cybercrime is an image

nightmare for Nigeria. Some Nigerian youths have decided to turn

their backs on opportunities and compelled by the get-rich-quick

syndrome to use internet for criminal means. This research work

seeks to show that currently the legal regime is not well suited to face

the challenges posed by Cybercrimes. At present, there is no cyber

law in the country and a Bill2 has been lying dormant in the National

Assembly since 2011 without much enthusiasm on members to pass

this Bill. The researcher argues that law enforcement officials cannot

effectively pursue cyber criminals unless they have the legal tools

necessary to do so.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This research work will show that the rise in Cybercrimes in Nigeria

is an offshoot to other numerous problems.3 Some of these problems

are caused by mismanagement on the part of leading elites, while

others are caused by lack of value orientation. The rise in

Cybercrimes such as ATM frauds, piracy, hacking, pornography,

email scams etc. is not favourable to our economic cum socio

development. It imparts negatively to every facet of our nation life; it

scares investors and discourages local and foreign investment, it also

2 Cybersecurity Bill, 2011. Other related Bills which aimed at checking Cybercrimes include: Computer Security and
Information Infrastructure Protection Bill (2005), the Cybercrime Bill (2004), the EFCC Act (Amendment) Bill
(2010), the Electronic Fraud and Prohibition Bill (2008), the Nigerian Computer Security and Protection Agency Bill
(2009), and the Cyber Security and Data Protection Agency (Establishment) Bill (2008).
3 This include: corruption, ethnicity, nepotism, electoral violence, religious conflict, youth restiveness and

unemployment to mention but a few.

erodes public confidence in the financial sector and discourages hard

work in academic environment. Pornography also has negative effects

on the young ones. Further, this work will show that currently Nigeria

has no law regulating activities on the cyber space and the only laws

which appear close to the problem are the EFCC Act 4, Money

Laundering Act5 and the Advanced Fee Fraud Act6. The researcher

recommends that since there is already an existing Bill7 in the

National Assembly it should be reviewed and passed in to law to

enable effective regulation of cybercrime. However, the inadequacies

of these laws to tackle the hydra headed problem of cybercrime will

be discussed. This work is intended to analyze the existing legal

regime for the prevention of cybercrimes in Nigeria to see the

adequacies or otherwise.

1.3 OBJECTIVE/PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The principal purpose of this work is to appraise the legal framework

in Nigeria for the regulation of Cybercrimes. This has become

necessary in view of the ever increasing volume of cyber transactions

4Cap E1 LFN 2004

5 Cap M18 LFN 2004
6 Cap A14 LFN 2004
7 Cybersecurity Bill, 2011
especially in the field of trade, banking, law, governance, education

etc. and the multifarious security concerns or challenges

concomitant to it. Further analysis will amongst other things:

i. Discuss the nature and types of cybercrimes

ii. Assess the inadequacies of cybercrime preventive

mechanisms in Nigeria

iii. Examine the existing legal regime for combating cybercrimes

in Nigeria

iv. Analyse the Nigerian Cybersecurity Bill 2011

v. Suggest how cybercrimes can be effectively tackled in Nigeria.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

There is no doubt that cybercrime is a universal problem and any

discourse or study in this area has to go round the globe. That

notwithstanding, this research work will try as much as possible to

focus on the problems of cybercrime as it relates to Nigeria. The scope

of this work includes but not limited to; an overview of cybercrimes

in Nigeria, the existing legal regime for combating cybercrimes in

Nigeria. An attempt will be made to analyze the Nigerian

Cybersecurity Bill 2011 and a comparison of international

perspectives of cybercrimes and the Nigeria Cybersecurity Bill 2011

will be x-rayed.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of this study cannot be overemphasized. This is

because, this study will be of benefit to every user of the internet. The

study is aimed at analyzing the relevant legal framework to point out

its shortcomings in tackling cybercrimes in Nigeria. The government

and policy makers will find this work very handy in their attempt to

find a solution to this problem. Similarly, this work will assist law

enforcement agencies in their bid to curb e-crimes in Nigeria. This

study will also help law researchers and even those in related

discipline in their further research.

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The doctrinal research method is largely used in the collection of data

needed for the research of this work. The research will combine both

primary and secondary sources of materials. The relevant statutes

and case laws will be consulted to assist in this research work.

The nature of the work also demands that much reliance will be

placed on internet materials, textbooks, journals and articles written

in the area will also be used.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HISTORY OF CONCEPTS

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter examines the views and opinions of writers on the

subject matter. A further milestone will be reached at the history of

the concept; criticisms on the works of some writers and at the end

achieve a better understanding of the concepts.

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE CONCEPTS

Cybercrime is one of the words frequently used by individuals in our

contemporary society. To understand the meaning of cybercrimes

there is need to understand the slit meaning of "Cyber" and "Crime".

The term "Cyber" is a prefix used to describe an idea as part of the

computer and information age.8 On the other hand, "Crime" can be

defined as any activity that contravenes legal procedure mostly

preferred d by individuals with a criminal motive. 9 It is therefore

pertinent to point out that this definition of crime by Anah is more

focused on having a criminal motive before a crime can reassure. This

is a subjective definition as one may be deemed or seen to have

committed a crime in different jurisdictions even when he has not

intended it or even had any criminal motive. For instance, in some

countries which practice gay marriage, it is deemed a crime where an

individual fails to acknowledge this and could be punished on

grounds of discrimination.10 Crime we are told is today a salient tact,

an integral part of the risks we face in everyday life. In both scholarly

and public opinion, crime is associated with harm and violence.

However, we lack agreement on the most basic question "what is

8 Anah B.H, "Cybercrimes" in Nigeria: causes, effects and the way out; AREN journal of science and Technology
Vol2. NO.7. August 2012 P.626
9 Ibid
10 See countries like USA
crime". The term crime does not in modern criminal law have any

simple and universally accepted definition11, though statutory

definitions have been provided for certain purposes12. The most

popular view is that crime is a gateway created by law, that is

something is a crime if applicable Law says it is. One proposed

definition is that a crime, also called an offence or a criminal offence

is an act harmful not only to some individuals, but also to the

community or the state (public wrong). For me, the most acceptable

definition of a Crime is that "Crime is an act that the law makes

punishable”.13 This is because any act which has not been

condemned by any law or recognized by any act as wrong cannot be

seen or called a crime.

Borrowing a leaf from the foregoing therefore, Cybercrime has not

been defined severally by various writers. This would be discussed

having understood the split meaning of "Cyber" and "Crime".

Cybercrime has been defined as “a criminal offence on the web, a

criminal offence regarding the internet, a violation of law on the

11 Farmer L., "crime definitions" in Cane and Conoghan (editors). The New Oxford Companion to Law, Oxford
University Press 2008, P.263
12 Such definitions as provided by Section 243 (2) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidated) Act 1992

and by the schedule to the Prevention of Crimes Act 1871

13 Garner, B.A., Black’s Law Dictionary 9th Ed., West Publishing Co. USA, 2009, P.427
internet, an illegality committed with regard to the internet etc”. 14

According to Summer15, there is no generally acceptable or generally

agreed definition of Cybercrime and this lack directly impacts

assessments of extent. The Council of Europe Cybercrime

Convention16 also known as the Treaty of Budapest covers in Articles

2-6 as “substantive offences”, “illegal access”, and “misuse of

devices”, “system interference”, “data interference”, and “illegal

interception”. It adds as Computer-related offences, “computer-

related forgery”17, and “computer-related fraud”18. Cybercrime has

also been defined as including “unauthorized acts with the intent to

impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of computer,

etc”.19 This definition is acceptable only within the jurisdiction in

which the law was made.

Cybercrime encompasses any criminal activity or act dealing with

computers and networks (called hacking). Additionally, it also

includes traditional crimes conducted through the internet for

14 www.thefreedictionary.com assessed May 30, 2014

15 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmsctech/imtev/mal01.htm. Assessed May 31, 2014
16 http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/185.htm. It dates from 2001 and came into force in 2004

and was ratified by the UK in 2011.

17 Article 7 of the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention
18 Article 8, The Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention
19 Section 3 Uk Computer Misuse Act, 1990
example; hate crimes, internet fraud, identity theft, and credit card

account thefts.20

Okwunma opines that Cybercrime should not be attributed to just

the use of computers to commit crime, cybercrime is cloud crime.

Most of the cybercrimes are being committed with the aid of the

internet and therefore, cybercrime should be defined as illegal

activities committed through the use of computer and internet.21

Dictionary.com defines Cybercrime as criminal activity or a crime

that involves the internet, a computer system or computer

technology; identity theft, phishing and other kinds of Cybercrime. 22

Cybercrime is a term for any illegal activity that uses a computer as

its primary means of commission.23 These broad definitions offer little

insight into the nature of the conduct that falls within the umbrella

term. The issue is further complicated by the fact that cybercrime is

a social label and not an established term within criminal law.

There has been confusion on the criteria used to determine the term

Cybercrimes or computer crimes.24 Some argued that, it is any crime

20 www.webopedia.com/term/c/cyber_crime.html Assessed 31/5/2014

21 Okunma E.N., “Criticism: 2011 Cybercrime Bill”, Telecommunications Engineering Project, University of
Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa 2013
22 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cybercrime
23 Esharenana, E., Igun S.E, Combating Cybercrime in Nigeria, Electronic library, vol 26, Emerald Group Publishing

Ltd, 2008, Delta, P. 717

24 Herman, T.T, Ethics and Technology, Ethical Issue in an Age of Information and Communication Technology, 2nd

Edition, John Wiley & sons Inc, 2007, USA, P.202

that involves the use of computer, while some others argued that it

is a crime in the presence of a computer.25 However, some have

criticized the categorization of cybercrime. Gotternbarn argued that,

there is nothing special on the crimes that happen to involve

computers. Is it possible for a crime being categorized in accordance

to a tool, equipment, mechanism or means through which it was

committed? If that’s so, how many categories of crime would be

there? How about the crime committed through using a television,

automobiles, scalpels, scissors and other tools, can we categorize

each of them as individual crimes?26 Gotternbarn concludes that

crimes involving computers are not necessarily issues in computer

ethics.

in arguing against Gotternbarn, it is true that we may not categorize

other crimes in accordance to tools, equipment, mechanism or means

through which they were committed. However, due to the nature and

features of cybercrimes27 which differentiates the traditional universe

and the cyber universe, it made the traditional universe tremble like

25 Ibid
26 ibid
27 ubiquity, global reach, universal standards, information reachness, interactivity, information density,

personalization, customization a nd social technology. As a result of these features, it achieves unprecedented

reach and makes available vast amounts of information of varying degrees of quality. Internet users cannot be
regarded as a homogenous group.
an earthquake and makes crimes difficult to control than they were

before. This initiates the concept of these crimes being necessary to

be categorized as cybercrimes.28

Forester and Morrison argued that cybercrime is a criminal act in

which a computer is used as a principal tool. In that matter, the theft

of computer hardware device, would not qualify as a computer

crime.29 Is it true that by using a computer as the principal to commit

a crime, it will amount to cybercrime? For instance in taxable

transactions, in the case of data entry, can’t a person commit fraud

just by filling the wrong data into hardcopy version of tax forms which

are the same available in electronic forms? Therefore, their Argument

holds no water as it is fallacious.

Girasa in 2002 argued that Cybercrime is a generic term covering the

multiplicity of crimes found in penal codes or in legislations having

use of computers as a centre component. To him, Cybercrime is a

crime as long as the penal codes and any other legislation clearly

stipulate it as involving not only the use of computers but the use of

computers as the centre component.30

28 Ashery M., “Introduction to Cybercrime: Security, Prevention and Detection of Cybercrime in Tanzania”, LL.M-ICT
law (thesis) 2013 Tumaini University Iringa College
29 Ibid P.203
30 Girasa, R.J., Cyber Law: National and International Perspectives, Prentice Hall Publishers, 1st Ed, New Jersey,

2001
At the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and

Treatment of Offenders, in a workshop devoted to the issues of crimes

related to computer networks, cybercrime was broken into two

categories and defined thus:31

1. Cybercrime in a narrow sense: Any illegal behaviour directed by

means of electronic operations that targets the security of computer

systems and the data processed by them.32

2. Cybercrime in a broader sense (computer-related crime): Any

illegal behaviour committed by means of, or in relation to a computer

system or network, including such crimes as illegal possession and

offering or distributing information by means of a computer system

or network.33

Even though this definition is not completely definitive, however, it gives

us a good starting point, for determining just what cybercrime means, by

incorporating computer crime and computer-related crime. Computer

crime has two elements, “Computer” and “Crime”. Therefore, it involves a

crime in a relationship with a computer.34 The relationship could involve

the direct usage of a computer by the criminal as one of the first famous

31 Talwant S., District & sessions Judge, Cyber Law & Technology, Delhi- India
32 Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, Vienna A/CONF.187/10,
10-17 April 2000, P.4
33 Ibid
34 Magim C.J, “The 2001 Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime: An efficient tool to fight Crime in

Cyberspace? A paper submitted for LLM at Santa Clara University in 2001

computer criminals did. However, the relationship can also be indirect, the

criminal cannot only use a computer to commit his crime but can also use

someone to make changes in a computer system by manipulating a key

computer user.35 Thus, one being the exploitation of weakness in the

technical IT infrastructure36, and the other being exploitation of trust in

social fabric of IT users37 within the organization.

2.3 HISTORY OF CONCEPTS

The early computers like Electronic Numeric Integrator and Computer

(ENIAC), Binary Automatic Computer (BINAC), Universal Automatic

Computer (UNIAC), and other Punch Card Tabulation Machines had some

inherent security advantages. They were stand alone systems, huge and

very expensive and besides, not many people knew what a computer really

was. Commercial computers like Programmed Data Processor (PDP-1) got

introduced around the 1960s with a business model of renting out the

machine to companies and individuals on a time sharing basis. This made

the data and programs stored in it vulnerable, and thus, the first doors to

hacking were opened. The first hackers group came from Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1961, shortly after MIT got its first PDP-

35 Ibid
36 United States V Morris (1991) The accused invaded the security system through a worm as to measure the
weakness of MIT which in turn prevented the use of Federal interest computers, thereby causing loss. He was
held guilty.
37 See S V. Douvenga case no 111/150/2003, dated 2003/08/19 Northern Transvaal Regional Division 93 Cr APPR

25, 02 Dec 2003, the accused who used the trust position entrusted by her company to send more than 30,000
client address to her fiancé at the opposition company, was found guilty
1.38 During the 1970s, while computers were slowly getting

introduced, the telephone system was already well established. There

was a curious group of people, known as Phreaks who thrived by the

idea of breaking it. One of the first known Phreaks was Nelson from

MIT who wrote softwares to generate tones that helped access the

phone company’s long distance service and make free calls. The

Phreaks created a blue box device that was programmed to generate

a 2600-hertz signal, allowing them to do nasty things such as

stalking a trunk line, and kicking off the operator line that enabled

making free long distance calls. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs

(founders of Apple Computer) were known to be involved in the early

production and distribution of similar devices. With the introduction

of Altair 8800, the first affordable PC in the 1970s it became possible

for individuals to own computers and learn to program. This learning

was soon followed with a thirst for full fledged hacking by some

individuals. Simultaneously, the emergence of other computers like

the Radio Shack’s TRS-80 and the IBM PC brought more powerful

computing to people who were eager to find new ways to exploit the

system’s capabilities. Today’s networking technology has improved

38 Debra L.S, “Scene of the Cybercrime; Computer Forensics Handbook”

http://www.syngress.com/catalog/?pid.2250 Assessed 31/5/2014
tremendously, and gone beyond the mainframe model with new

concepts such as peer to peer communication standards like internet

enabled vendors to create compatible products that link computers

easily and inexpensively. Unfortunately, these open standards also

made it easier for the hackers to break into systems by reverse

engineering the widely available protocol.

As computers became cheaper and started getting mainstream, efforts

were made for seamless interaction between them. ARPA Net was one such

effort and during its design, security was not in issue to research scientists

as they thought that the small number of nodes on the network limited

the scope of the threat posed by security branches. However, in 1988,

Robert T. Morris, a graduate student at Cornell University launched a

self-replicating worm on the government’s ARPA Net to test its effect on

UNIX systems. The worm spread all across the United States and infected

thousands of networked computers, clogged government and university

systems and brought the internet to a standstill.39 This was the wakeup

call to internet users who realized that some amidst them haboured

malicious intent.

In the early 1990s, as internet access became commercially available at

an affordable price, the number of attacks also increase and cybercrime

39 United States V. Morris Supra

was now crossing international boundaries. Among the first Cyber-

espionage case to make international headlines were hackers in West

Germany who were arrested for breaking into US Government and

corporate computers, and selling operating system source code to the

Soviet KGB. In another event, Russian Cracker Vladimir Levin,

siphoned $10million from Citibank and transferred the money to

banks accounts around the world.40 Banks and other financial

institutions were amongst the first large scale computer users in the

private sector41, for automatic payroll and accounting functions.

Therefore, fraud in a computer scheme emerged.

However, as technology advanced, the number of cybercrime cases

increased. Several individuals were engaged in the fight against

computer crime from the early development. The founder and father

of the knowledge of computer crimes are by many observers

considered to be Donn B. Parker, USA. He was involved in the

research of computer crime and security from the early 1970s. He

served as a Senior Computer consultant at the Stanford Research

Institute (SRI) International and was the main author of the first

40 http://www.thocp.net/reference/hacking/hacking.htm Assessed 30/5/2014

41 Lloyd I.J., Information Technology Law, Oxford University press, 6th Ed, London, 2011, p. 90
basic Federal manual for law enforcement in USA.42 This manual also

became soon an encyclopedia also for law enforcement outside US.43

Furthermore, in the late 1990, Hackers pierced security in

Microsoft’s Windows operating system to illustrate its weaknesses.

Trojan horse virus was released in 1998 by hacking group called “Cult of

the Dead Cow” which on a machine running windows 95 or windows 98,

allowed unauthorized remote access of the machine. An example of which

was the attack on the Federal Bureau of Labour Statistics in 1998, which

was inundated for days with hundreds of thousands of fake information

requests. The website was brought down that frustrated the economists

and investors as they depended on it to retrieve the latest economic data.

The worms and viruses released in the twenty first century posses a higher

impact in terms of financial damage and loss of productivity. An example

is the “Love letter” worm that caught on in May 2000 caused companies

$960million in clean-up costs.44

2.4 CONCLUSION

“Ever since men began to modify their lives by using technology, they have

found themselves in a series of technological traps”.45 It is obviously

42 Computer Crime - Criminal Justice Resource Manual 1979. This manual became an encyclopedia also for law
enforcement outside US
43 See an overview of his archies, www.cybercrimelaw.nnet His first book on the subject was: “computer Crime”

(1976)
44 Lessons of “Love” Virus still sinking in

http://news.com.com/lessons+of+love+virus+still+sinking+in/2100_1001_3-257095-html Assessed 31/5/2014

45 Vakul S., Information Technology Law and Practice, 3rd Edition, Universal Law Publishing Co. Ltd, New Delhi,

2011, P.30
established that a discourse on the concept Cybercrime is indeed not an

easy task as there are conflicting ideas on what it is. But a clear

understanding of it has been established in this chapter.

CHAPTER THREE

CYBERCRIMES IN NIGERIA

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Our world is different; cyberspace offered the opportunity to create a

new social order, free entrenched power imbalances evident in the

physical world. It should also come as no surprise that computer

technology is involved in the growing number of crimes, in addition

to being used as a tool to perpetrate crimes in Nigeria.

However, this chapter will x-ray the cybercrimes evidently seen in

Nigeria. It will further examine the existing legal regime for combating

cybercrimes in Nigeria Cybersecurity Bill 2011 and finally, a

conclusion will be drawn from them.

3.2 CYBERCRIMES IN NIGERIA

Although the potential infringement on a person’s right may seem

like something out of George Orwell’s 1984, we would do well to

remember that sacrificing privacy and certain freedoms has become

a norm in the 21st century and as well entrenched in our constitution.

For better or worse, the internet has largely grown beyond the

anonymous free-for-all that was seen in the early years. There are

various cybercrimes, but this research work will examine the

cybercrimes peculiar to Nigeria.

1. E-mail Spam/Scams: A most nauseating phenomenon among

cybercrimes in Nigeria is e-mail scam and spam. These schemes

solicit and present false financial investment. Nigeria’s image as

a country has been seriously tarnished by the above specie of

cybercrime such that there is a type of e-mail scam code-named

the “Nigerian” Email Scam46. The E-mail scam may come in any

of the following ways:

i. The criminal sends e-mail that the victim is the named

beneficiary in the will of estranged relative and stands to

benefit and inherit an estate worth millions

ii. Online Charity: here, the criminal sends e-mails to victims

soliciting funds and assistance to charitable organizations

that do not exist

46 http://martinslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/08/types-of-cyber-crime-in.html?m=1 assessed 18/6/2014

 iii. Bait: here, con artists claim to be officials, business people

or the surviving spouses of the former government officials

in Nigeria or any other country whose money is somehow

tied up for a limited time. They offer to transfer lots of

money into the account if the victim will pay a “fee” or

“taxes” to help them access the money.

The above is not intended to portray Nigerians as the only

people that are engaged in this type of cybercrime. Although

electronic scam or spam emails are generally believed to be

linked to Nigeria, the scam is now prevalent in many other

African countries and the targets are usually gullible

individuals who could be anywhere in the world. The shift these

days have gone to text messages and through facebook. Hence,

with the increase in the use of cell phones, scam emails are now

sent to mobile users to lure the victims into their nets.47

2. Cyber Stalking: There is no universally accepted definition of

“Cyber Stalking” yet. It is generally considered as the use of

internet, email or other electronic communications device to stalk

or harass a person. Stalking is defined as repeated harassing or

47 The researcher has within a space of one month, received 10 email scams via facebook from different persons
asking her to come to the rescue of a young girl who is supposedly in the custody of a priest.
 threatening behaviour.48 Cyber stalking is a form of harassment

that makes use of modern technology like cell phones, fax

machines and other devices to pursue their victims. Cyber

stalking is now considered a crime in many places and as a crime

its definition has varied from one locale or country to another.

Due to the anonymity of the internet, a perpetrator’s identity can

be completely concealed. In addition, cyber stalking has led to

offline incidents of violent crime. For example, a south caroline

woman in USA was stalked for several years via email by

unknown person who threatened her life, to kill her, to rape her

daughter and posted her home address making it openly available

to anyone with access to internet.49

3. Cybersquatting50: The Nigerian Cybersecurity Bill, 2011 by

virtues of Section 11 defines CyberSquatting as involving any

person who intentionally takes or makes use of a name, business

name, trademark, domain name or other word or phrase

registered, owned or in use by any individual, body corporate or

belonging to either Federal, State or local governments in Nigeria,

48 http://martinslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/08/types-of-cyber-crime-in.html?m=1 Accessed 18/6/2014

49 Victor T. & Olumide O., “E-crime in Nigeria; Trends, Tricks and Treatment”.
www.Openj.gate/search/searchresults/articles. visited 16/6/2014
50 Section 11 CyberSecurity Bill, 2011 p. 6
 on the internet or any other computer network, without authority

or right, or for the purpose of interfering with their use by the

owner, registrant or legitimate prior user, commits an offence.

4. Cyber Terrorism: this involves the use of internet to commit

terrorism or launch terrorist attacks. This is a new way or means

which insurgents or religious extremists (e.g Boko Haram) use to

recruit new members and form strategies on how to attack

nations.

5. Theft of Communication Services: this is fraudulently

obtaining employee’s access code or using the available software

on the internet to gain access into organization’s telephone switch

board. The possibility arises however that offenders may target

victims in other countries at times when it is impossible for

personal telephone verification checks to be undertaken. Funds

could be for instance electronically debited from accounts at

night when a company is closed and when transaction could not

be immediately identified.

6. Internet Pornography: the use of the web for sexual abuse

remains a very active research interest. It has been found that

internet pornography is a disturbing trend especially among the

 youths. The use of web filtering programme has been advocated

to check internet pornography in Nigeria. It also involves using

internet to download and transmit pornographic pictures,

photos, writings etc. In related vein, the internet is used as an

avenue for luring unsuspecting children to pedophiles, and for

distributing child pornography. The internet has been a medium

for the sale and exchange of child pornography. In 1993 for

instance, the largest pornography sting operation in history

occurred resulting in the arrest of 200 people in 21 countries. 51

Another issue or trend is the use of mobile phones and internet

for prostitution. Hence, prostitutes now advertise their trades via

internet by exposing their sensitive, sensual and private parts to

internet users.

7. Identity Theft and Impersonation: This is knowingly obtaining

or possessing another entity, or person, living or dead with the

intent to deceive or defraud the public through the use of

internet. The Nigerian CyberSecurity Bill, 2011 stipulates that

any person who fraudulently impersonates another entity or

person while using a computer with the intent to gain advantage

51 Sergeant J., “Police Raid on Global Internet Child Pornography Club”, Computer Pornography Vol.1 Issue 1 (2006)
p.16
 for himself or another person; obtain any property or an interest

in any property; cause disadvantage to any entity or person being

impersonated or another person; or avoid arrest or prosecution

or to obstruct, prevent or defeat the course of justice as being a

cybercriminal.52

8. Phishing: This is a term coined by hackers who initiate legitimate

companies in E-mails to entice people to share passwords or

credit card numbers. This term comes from the fact that internal

scammers are using increasingly sophisticated lures as they

“fish” for “user” financial information and password data. One

most common ploy is to copy web pages code from a major site

and use that code to set up a replica page that appears to be part

of the company’s site. A fake e-mail is sent out with a link to this

page which solicits the user’s credit and data or password when

it is submitted. It sends the data to the customer while leaving

the user on the computer site.53

9. ATM/Credit Card Fraud: Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is an

electronic cash dispensing machine which came to reduce the

stress and trouble customers often encounter while trying to

52 Section 10 Nigerian Cyber Security Bil,l 2011, P.6

53 UNITED STATES V. LEE 15 Johns 484 (N.V. 18177) 1998
 withdraw cash from their respective banks or even to check their

account balance. This machine has grown beyond the traditional role

mentioned above. Through ATM card, one can purchase items online.

ATM fraud is perpetuated through ATM machines and e-transaction

system. Millions of dollars are lost annually by consumers who have

credit card and calling card numbers stolen from online databases. At

times, the criminals steal the PIN of the users and with their cards,

use them to withdraw all the money in their accounts. This has made

the public lose confidence in this technology that is meant to provide

convenience and comfort of withdrawal.

10. Cyber Piracy: This may also be described as intellectual property

violations. Digital technology has made it very easy to perfectly copy

creative products such as music or films and the internet provides a

free and anonymous means of transmitting or exchanging these

pirated materials around the world. According to research from

Business Alliance (BSA) international leading software and e-

commerce developers, global software piracy is an 11.8 billion dollars

problem that only gets bigger.54 Cyber piracy has two different

meanings in the cyber security community.55 The general

definition of cyber piracy is any instance where the internet is

54 http://www.bsa.org. visited 18/6/2014

55 www.mysecuritycyberspace.com/encyclopedia/index/cyberpiracy.html/. Visited 18/6/2014
 used to copy a digital document without authorization. Some

examples include: copying and distributing music or video

without the copyright holder’s permission or copying software

into a CD without paying for it.

11. Cyber Hacking: Cyber hacking is a term used to describe cyber

crimes such as illegal access, defacing, hijacking, bombing,

denial of service attack, diddling super zapping, eavesdropping,

etc.56 Some internet users think that hacking is harmless fun and

even quite clever, but it can be a serious invasion of privacy and

a significant threat to e-commerce.

12. Computer Vandalism: This occurs when an intruder removes

valuable information from the computer system, the intruder

prevents the legitimate user or owner from having access to that

information.57 This can result in a direct loss of or represent a

substantial loss of expected revenue. The feature of this

cybercrime according to Conley58, have to do with knowledge of

computer use or technology used to commit the offence; the rate

of connectivity to the internet; internal computer crimes like logic

56 Op cit www.Openj.gate/search/searchresults/articles. visited 16/6/2014

57Carter D., “Computer Crime Categories”, FBI Law Enforcement Journal, Vol. 64, NO. 21 (1995) R.271
58 Conley C.H, “CyberCrime” NIJ Reports, Vol. 6 No. 218 (1990) p.3
 bombs, packet-sniffers, viruses etc; hardware and software theft;

telecommunications crimes etc.

13. Illegal E-lotteries: The quest to get rich quick by most

Nigerians is often exploited by online criminals who send all kinds

of tempting message of an existing lottery bonanza (though

factitious), where participants can will all sorts of items and

money-ranging from cars, houses, electronics, laptop, to mention

but a few. This form of cybercrime is rampant in Nigeria. Even

the American and Canadian visa lotteries have been used to lure

many Nigerians to their doom. A lot of youths are eager to travel

abroad and these scammers are aware of this, and they respond

by creating online visa lotteries to rip off unsuspecting youths. E-

lotteries are also done through the mobile phones these days. It

is common to receive such text messages asking one to answer

some questions (in most cases these questions are very easy to

answer) thereby making the victims to indicate more interest and

win some amount of money. Most of these e-lotteries are done by

persons or bodies with questionable character and whose identity

cannot be verified.

There is no doubt that this has a negative impact on the Nigerian

economy. Adeloye on his own has identified security as well as power

outage as one of the challenges facing Electronic banking in Nigeria.59

These species of cybercrimes discussed above are just a tip of the

iceberg of what is happening in everyday Nigeria. Each day, new

species of crimes emerge and every effort to beat these fraudsters

translate into a more and cynical mode of operation. As at 2009 and

2010 respectively, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

Report ranked Nigeria as third among the top 10 sources of

cybercrime in the world.60 Of all the above listed cybercrimes, the

most prevalent in Nigeria are the E-banking fraud/crimes. As a

result, most of the users and beneficiaries of E-banking especially

the ATM services are threatening a massive dumping of the cards if

the unwholesome act is not checked. The growth of online banking

further presents enhanced opportunities for perpetrators of

cybercrime. Funds are embezzled using wire transfer or accounts

takeover. Criminals submit fraudulent online applications to bank

loans; disrupt e-commerce by engaging in denial of service attacks

and by compromising. Online banking payment systems.61 Identity

takeover can also affect online banking, as new accounts can be

59 Adeloye L.A. “E-banking as New Frontiers for Banks”, Sunday Punch 2008, September 14, p.25
60 EFCC/NBS/(2009), (2010) Business Survey on Crime & Corruption and Awareness of EFCC in Nigeria, Summary
Report.
61 Atherton M., “Criminals Switch Attention from cheques and Plastic to Internet Transactions”, The Sunday Times

of March 10, 2010.

taken over by identity thieves, thus raising concerns regarding the

safety and soundness of financial institutions. Therefore, unless

crime detection and prevention are confronted collectively, Nigeria

like any other country will remain worm breeding grounds for cartels

of such criminal activity. A global effort to combat this crime is of

essence.

3.3 EXISTING LEGAL REGIME FOR COMBATING

CYBERCRIMES

Nigeria at the moment has no law specially or specifically enacted for

the prohibition and punishment of cybercrimes. Cybercrime laws in

the best of circumstances function best within the framework of a

clearly dedicated law and not as an appendage that allows remedies

to fall short of liabilities. This is not to say that cyber criminals are

free to operate in the country. Despite this limitation, there are laws

in existence that provide for circumstance construed to include

cybercrimes and serve some purpose no matter how limited. These

laws include: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

(Establishment) Act62, Nigerian Criminal Code Act 63 and Advanced

Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act.64

1. EFCC ACT: Economic and financial crimes are recognized as a set

of crimes wide in scope which the EFCC has powers to investigate

and prosecute pursuant to Section 6 of the EFCC Act, the

commission has the jurisdiction to investigate and enforce the law

on economic laws in force in Nigeria. The law states that the

commission shall be responsible for:

a. The enforcement and the due administration of the provisions

of this Act;

b. The investigation of all financial crimes including advance fee

fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge

transfer, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of

negotiable instruments, computer credit card fraud, contract

scam etc.

c. The coordination and enforcement of all economic and

financial crime laws and enforcement functions conferred on

any other persons or authority.

Some of the Acts the commission enforces pursuant to the said section

include; the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, EFCC

62 Cap E1, LFN 2004, hereinafter referred to as EFCC Act

63 Cap C38 LFN 2004, hereinafter referred to as Criminal Code
64 Cap A6 LFN 2004, hereinafter referred to as Advanced Fee Fraud
Act 2002, Criminal Code Act 2004, Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal

Act 2004, Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2004, Recovery of

Public Property (special military Tribunal) LFN 2004, The Failed Banks

(Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices Act amongst others.

Furthermore, the Act provides a very wide meaning for the phrase

“Economic and financial crimes” by virtue of Section 48 stating it to

include:

“The non-violent criminal and illicit activity committed with the

objectives of earning wealth illegally either individually or in a
group or organized manner thereby violating existing legislation
governing the economic activities of government and its
administration and includes any form of fraud, narcotic drug
trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement, bribery, looting
and any form of corrupt practices, illegal arms dealing,
smuggling, human trafficking and child labor, illegal oil
bunkering and illegal mining, tax evasion, foreign exchange
malpractices including counterfeiting of ceremony, theft of
intellectual property and piracy, open market abuse, dumping of
toxic waste and prohibited goods, etc.
This definition encompasses some wide range of cybercrimes as evidently

seen in Nigeria. For instance, the illict activities of the “Yahoo boys” are

sabotage on the Nigerian economy. To this extent, it constitutes economic

crimes which EFCC Act can deal with. This provision has been an anchor

for various actions of EFCC including prosecution of Chief Emmanuel

Nwude in the case of Federal Republic of Nigeria V. Chief Emmanuel &

Ors65 reputed to have carried out the third world biggest single scam with

numerous others pending in court. In this case, the accused persons were

65 Suit No: CA/245/05 www.cenbank.gov.ng/419/cases.asap

charged to the High court of Lagos state. A 57 count charge was proffered

against the accused persons including the scamming to the tune of US

$181.6 million and they were all found guilty and sentenced accordingly.

In addition to this sentence, their assets were forfeited to the federal

Government of Nigeria and the sums of money recovered and returned to

their owners. Another close offence is found in Section 1(1) of the Advanced

Fee Fraud Act which was enacted to ease the proof of crimes and the EFCC

is now charged with the responsibility of enforcing this Act. Re Alexander

Gibb & Ors V. Central Bank of Nigeria &Ors 66 is instructive on advance

fee fraud particularly through the use of scam letters to defraud people.

2. Criminal Code Act: The Nigerian Criminal Code Act can be

used presently to prosecute cyber criminals. Most of the activities of

these criminals bother on false pretences and cheating which

Sections 419 and 421 of this Act prohibits respectively. Section

419 provides that “any person who by any false pretence, and with

the intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything

capable of being stolen or induces any other person deliver to any

person anything capable of being stolen, is guilty of a felony and is

liable to imprisonment for 3 years.” Section 418 defines false

pretence as any representation made by words, writing, or conduct

66 Advanced fees fraud (419), CBN litigation at http://www.cenbank.org/419/alexgibb.asp Assessed 20/6/2014

 of a matter of fact, either past or present, which representation is

false in fact and which the person making it knows to be false or

does not believe to be true.67 By the fraudulent action, cyber

criminals deceive their victims by pretending to have abilities or

skills which ordinarily they do not have or possess.

Furthermore, pursuant to Section 42168, which states that any person

who by means of any fraudulent trick or device obtains from any other

person anything capable of being stolen, or to pay or deliver to any person

any money or goods or any greater sum of money or greater quantity of

goods than he would have paid or delivered but for such trick or device, is

guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years. This

offence is also known as offence of cheating. A person who deceives

another person through the internet or use of a computer can be charged

under this section and as well tried. In R V. CABABEDI69, the accused

presented false invoice to the customs and obtained the release of his

goods on payment of a lower amount of duty than was properly

changeable. He was held guilty of cheating.

Moreso, Sections 239(2)(a) and 240A of the Criminal Code Act70 prohibits

betting and public lotteries respectively. Section 239(2)(a) provides that

67 ONWUDIWE V. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA Suit No: SC-41/2003; (2006) 10NWLR (pt 988) 382 where the
Supreme Court laid down ingredients of false pretence.
68 Criminal Code Act Cap C38 LFN 2004
69 (1959) 4 F.S.C 48
70 LFN 2004
any house, room or place which is used for the purpose of any money or

other property, Being, being paid or received therein by or on behalf of

such owner, occupier, or keeper or person using the place as or for an

assurance, undertaking, promise, or agreement, express or implied, to pay

or give thereafter any money or other property on any event or contingency

of or relating to any horse race, or other fight, game, sport or exercise, of

any house, room or place knowingly and willfully permits it to be opened,

kept or used or any person who has the use or management of such

business of a common betting house is guilty and liable to imprisonment

for one year, and to a fine of one thousand naira. This Section can enable

law enforcement agencies to regulate “Online Betting” or prosecute such

persons as would not heed to this Section. On the other hand, Section

240 defines “Public Lottery” to mean a lottery to which the public or any

class of the public has, or may have access and every lottery shall, until

contrary is proved be deemed to be a public lottery. “Lottery” includes any

game, method or device whereby money or money’s worth is distributed or

allotted in any manner depending upon or to be determined by chance or

lot. Section 240A(c) provides that every person who writes, prints,

publishes or causes to be written, printed or published, any lottery ticket

or any announcement relating to public lottery shall be liable to a fine not

exceeding six (6) months. This section recognizes lotteries done with the
use of computers or on the internet as being an offence and can be used

to combat this crime.

3. Nigerian Evidence Act 2011

Prior to the amendment of the Nigerian Evidence Act 2011, the

definition of “Document” did not include computer generated

evidence and electronic evidence. In the words of Pats Acholonu, JCA

“it must be clearly understood that our Evidence Act is now more

than 50 years old and is completely out of touch with the realities of

the present scientific and technological achievements…”71 This

statement was made recognizing the inadequacy of the erstwhile

Evidence Act 2004. Also in ESSO WEST AFRICA INC V. T.

OYEGBOLA72 the court held that:

The law cannot be and is not ignorant of modern business

methods and must not shut its eyes to the mysteries of the
computer.
The Nigerian Evidence Act 2011, today by virtue of Section 84 has

made it possible for facts for which direct oral evidence can be given

to be equally evidence by a computer-produced document containing

such facts, subject however to condition precedents as to the

document, the computer from which it was generated and the person

71 In EGBUE V. ARAKA (1996) 2 NWLR (pt 433) 688 CA. at 710 Para A
72 (1969) 1 NMLR 194, SC
who generated it or manages the relevant activities captured in the

document, for instance Cybercafé managers, Secretaries, ATM card

users or experts – the list is endless.73 This has made it more

convenient and expedient for our courts to admit computer generated

evidence.

3.4 THE NIGERIAN CYBERSECURITY BILL 2011: AN ANALYSIS

AND A CRITIC

The Cyber Crime Bill 2013 popularly known as the Cybersecurity Bill

2011 is a 27 page Bill which has gone through various drafts and

which is expected to be passed into law before or by the end of the

Second quarter of this year by the National Assembly. By virtue of its

Section 1(1) its objects and scope include:

a. Provide an effective legal framework for the prohibition,

punishment, detection, prosecution and punishment of

cybercrimes in Nigeria; and

b. Enhance cyber security and the protection of computer systems

and networks, electronic communications, data and computer

programs in Nigeria.

7373 Odi, J.D, Legal Practitioner at Awomolo & Associates Jude_dan_odi @ yahoo.com; OJdaniel.ng@gmail.com
Section 1(2) further provides that the Act shall be enforced by law

enforcement agencies in Nigeria to the extent of the agency’s

statutory powers. This provision would amount to abuse by the law

enforcement agencies. There should be a specific agency created or

empowered to enforce this Act (Bill). This is because even para-

military agencies would fall within the parameter of “Law

enforcement agencies”.

The sponsor of the Bill, Aisha Modibbo in her lead debate on the Bill,

cited the recent gruesome killing of Cynthia Osukogu in 2011 who

was lured to Lagos, raped, robbed and strangled by her “Friend” on

a social network as one of the ills of Cybercrime which must be fixed.

According to her, the absence of cybercrime laws portrayed Nigeria

as “very porous nation” for cybercrime.74

Okwunma, postulates that if the Bill is passed, people will discover

that it is no more business as usual and this will change everyone’s

mindset about committing cybercrime, as the lowest punishment in

the Bill is imprisonment for a period of two years or a fine not less

than 5million Naira or both.75 He further states that:

74 Rotimi A., “Rep Passes Anti-Cybercrime Bill for Second Reading”, Daily Independent, Nov. 27, 2012
75 Okunma E.N., “Criticism: 2011 Cybercrime Bill”, Telecommunications Engineering Project, University of
Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa 2013, p.1
 I can have a flutter that, if the security outfits to be used
are going to be affective as supposed, the population in
Nigeria prison might increase because if someone gains
access to your computer system and causes damage to it
or a little malfunction, then the person is convictable
under this said Bill. The Bill is so complex that if I asked
an IT staff to install Windows Vista and he went ahead
with his discretion to install Windows 7 which is causing
my system to mal-function, the staff stands a chance of
me charging him to court under Unauthorized
Modification of Computer Program or Data (Section
8)76

Service providers also have a place in the said Bill if they fail to

provide certain services when and as at when needed (Part IV

Section 23): forgetting that every career has it’s inflexible times. The

Criminal Law Section on “Records Retention by Service Provider”,

states that “All service providers under this Act shall have the

responsibility of keeping all transactional records of operations

generated in their systems and networks for a minimum period of 5

years”

Shifting pen to the System Interference Law (Part III Section 9),

which declares: “Any person who unlawfully produces, sells,

designs, adapts for use, distributes, or offers for sale, procures for

use, possesses any devices, including a computer program or a

76 Ibid
component, which is designed primarily to overcome security

measures for the protection of data, or performs any of those acts

relating to a password, access code or any other similar kind of data

with the intent to unlawfully utilize such item to contravene this Act,

commits an offence and liable upon conviction to a fine not less than

N5 million or imprisonment for a term not less than 2 years or to

both such fine and imprisonment”. This section fails to note that

Computer Security professionals conducting security assessments

sometimes have a need to design or use products with the capacity

for System penetration. According to this Law, a Computer

penetration-testing tool becomes System Interference. In addition,

some computer forensic tool will be termed System Interference tools.

Virus Software re-engineering process, which sometimes requires

writing viruses and sometimes the disassembly of Software virus

also, will be illegal in Nigeria. This particular law will also hinder the

Law Enforcement Agencies in performing its functions.

Part VI of the Nigerian Cybercrime Bill, titled “Search, Arrest and

Prosecution”, is very troubling. This section in question, gives the

Cybercrime Agency the power to: “have access to any information

code or technology which has the capability of retransforming or

unscrambling encrypted data contained or available to such

computer into readable and comprehensible format or text for the

purpose of investigating any offence under this Act or any other

offence which has been disclosed in the course of the lawful exercise

of the powers under this Act”. The implication here is serious privacy

issues. The power to require the release of encryption information to

a government agency annuls all rights of the individual to privacy.

Encryption keys or algorithms might be instruments of protecting

free communication in a free and democratic society. In cases where

crimes have been committed and encryption issues arise, encryption

keys of algorithms can be kept in 3rd party Encryption escrow.

Part III, Section 18 (Racist and Xenophobic offences) lies the

uncertainty of this Bill. Without question, this section of the Bill

which could be used to criminalize critical speech, calls for protest

and other forms of political activism. Knowing what we are capable

of doing in this clime, the hard line of a critic to any ‘big man’ or ‘oga

at the top’ can be classified as insults given the provision of these

sections of the Bill. In 2011, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State

also allegedly arrested one Moukhtari Ibrahim Aminu for ‘abusing’

the governor on Face book. If passed into law in its current state, the
Cyber Crime Bill would allow extreme abuse of power by office

holders, especially against any consistent dissenting voices. This Bill

has been described by Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm

Initiative Nigeria, as a “grave threat to free speech”. I fear that the Bill

tilts the scale in favour of Security agencies and could be used to

target critical voices online. On the other hand, Nnodim, creator of

the Adopt AT Weep Social Media and entrepreneurship project,

thinks that “False Information” is the operative word in the Bill. He

believes that while freedom of speech should be sacrosanct, there

must be regulation against defamation or peddling of false news.77

Moreso, the punishments for some of the Cybercrimes recognized by

this Bill are unreasonably unfair as the Rich could get away or

discharged once they pay the fines attached the crimes, while the

poor wallow in jail. The words of St. Augustine should ring true –

“An unjust law is no law at all.

3.5 CONCLUSION

Conclusively, Given the cross-border nature of cybercrimes, the

nation needs to key into continental and international provision on

77 Nwachukwu E., “Nigeria: Gagging Critics or Fighting Cybercrime?” Global Voices Advocacy, posted 10 december
2013, 23:34 GMT. Assessed 28/6/2014
cybercrime for complemented solution On this proposed law, the

requisite amendments should be made to this Bill before it can be

passed into law by the National Assembly in other that there can be

effective implementation of this law. As it is, the Draft Nigerian

Cybercrime Act is not ready to become Law.

CHAPTER FOUR
COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF
CYBERCRIMES AND THE NIGERIAN CYBERSECURITY BILL
2011
4.1 INTRODUCTION

International cybercrimes often challenge the effectiveness of

domestic and international law and law enforcement. Because

existing laws in many countries are not tailored to deal with

cybercrime, criminals increasingly conduct crimes on the internet.

Developing and developed countries, governments and industries

have gradually realized the colossal threats of cybercrime on

economic and political security and public interests. In this sense,

fighting cybercrime calls for international cooperation. In this

chapter, an attempt will be made to examine international legislative

framework on cybercrimes vis-à-vis the Council of Europe (COE)

Draft Convention on cybercrimes and cybercrime legislation in other

jurisdictions.

4.2 INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ON

CYBERCRIMES

Given the ever changing nature of technology, it is virtually

impossible for police in most parts of the world to keep up with

criminals in their constant efforts to exploit work closely with other

elements of criminal justice system, the public at large, the private

sectors and non-governmental organizations to ensure the most

comprehensive approach to the problem.78 Self protection is not

sufficient enough to make cyberspace a safe place to conduct

business. As Cybercrime increasingly breaches national borders,

nations perceived as havens run the risk of having their electronic

78 Stern S., & Solange G.H, A Global Treaty on Cyber Security and Cybercrime, 2nd Ed., AUT Oslo, 2011, p. 57
messages blocked by the network. There has to be something to

either prevent or eradicate cybercrimes.79 A number of international

organizations work constantly to analyze the latest developments in

cybercrime and have set up working groups to develop strategies to

fight these crimes. The Council of Europe Draft Convention on

Cybercrimes will be examined.

Council of Europe Draft Convention

The Council of Europe is an international Organization focusing on the

development of human rights and democracy in its 47 European member

states. The Council of Europe is playing an active role in addressing the

challenges of cybercrime. In 1976, the council highlighted the

international nature of computer related crimes and discussed the topic

at a conference dealing with aspects of economic crimes. In 1985, the

Council appointed an Expert Committee to discuss the legal aspects of

computer crimes. In 1989, the European Committee on crime problems

adopted the “Expert Report on Computer Related Crime”, analyzing the

substantive criminal legal provisions necessary to fight new forms of

electronic crimes, including computer fraud and forgery. The committee of

Ministers in 1989 adopted a recommendation that highlighted the

79 McConnell, International Cybercrime and Punishment? Archaic Laws Threaten Global Information, December
2000, Washington D.C, P.1
international nature of computer crime.80 It recommends that

governments of member states to:

1. Take into account when reviewing their legislation or initiating new

legislation, the report on computer related crimes elaborated by the

European Committee on crime problems, and in particular the

guidelines for the national legislatures.

2. Report to the secretary general of the council of Europe during 1993 on

any developments in their legislation, judicial practice and experiences

of international legal co-operation in respect of computer-related crime.

The Council of Europe convention on Cybercrime addresses the increasing

importance of International Cooperation in Articles 23 to 35.81 The

resulting Convention on cybercrime of the COE was passed in June 2001

and is currently the only global document attempts to define Cybercrimes

and develop policies to prevent particular crimes committed with use of

the internet. Under Article 37, the committee of minister of the Council of

Europe, with the consent of the contracting states may invite any state

which is not a member of the council and which has not participated in its

elaboration to accede to this convention. Nigeria as a sovereign state can

enter into treaties or convention as a contracting party. The president can

80 Article 15(b) of the Statute of Council of Europe

81 Csonka P., “Internet Crime; the Draft Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime: A response to the Challenge
of Crime in the Age of Internet”, Computer Law and Security Report, vol. 16 No.5
exercise these powers personally or by delegation. 82 The tenor of the

constitution is such that mere ratification or accession of a convention

does not in itself confer on the treaty a binding force in Nigeria unless it is

domesticated by the National Assembly in Nigeria.83 The Nigerian

Cybersecurity Bill 2011, should portray or contain some provisions of this

Draft Convention which Nigeria is a signatory to. Thus, the Bill in one fell

swoop, seeks to enact the Nigeria’s version of UK’s Computer Misuse Act

1990, Terrorist Act 2001, Copyright Designs and Patent Act 1988 (with its

amendments), Protection of Children’s Act 1978 (as amended), Obscene

Publications Act (as amended) etc. Nigeria should also consider the

adoption of the COE Cybercrime Convention.

4.3 CYBERCRIME LEGISLATIONS IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS

Some Jurisdiction’s legislations on cybercrime will be examined here.

United Kingdom

In the Uk, the English courts concluded that their existing laws did not

accommodate nor reflect the changes brought about by computer

technology. In R V. Gold84 the defendant was acquitted because there were

no laws to prevent unlawful access to a computer, this led to the

enactment of the Computer Misuse Act85 1990. However, this Act was soon

82 Section 5 CFRN 1999 as amended

83 See ABACHA V. FAWENHINMI (2000) 4 FWLR 533 at 546
84 (1998) AC 1063
85 Hereinafter referred to as CMA
found to be ineffective in addressing cybercrimes, thus the ageing

Computer Misuse Act was amended and came into force in England and

Wales on the 1st October 2008. Modifications to the CMA were included in

the Police and Justice Act86, these changes were then themselves amended

by the Serious Crime Act.87 In order to avoid confusion, the government

decided to apply these changes all at once, through a (delayed) legislative

order. Though the Police and Justice Act deals mostly with policing reform,

it also contains amendments to the Computer Misuse Act. First, the

maximum penalty for unauthorized access to a computer system has been

raised from six months to two years in prison, making the offence serious

enough that an extradition request can be filed.88 Denial of Service attacks

(DOS) previously something of a legal grey area are now clearly criminal

with a maximum penalty of up to 10years in prison.89 Thirdly, the

amended Act criminalizes the act of distributing hacking tools for criminal

purposes.90

The approach of England and Wales that allows prosecution in cases

where an element of offence occurred within the court’s jurisdiction has

little judicial support. This was relevant to fraud cases but could not be

considered for cases of incitement to racial hatred, as part of Public Order

86 (commencement No. 9) Order 2008

87 (commencement No. 3) Order 2008
88 Sections 35(3)(a) - (c) Police and Justice Act
89 Sections 36(1) - (6) Police and Justice Act
90 Sections 37(1) - (5 ) Police and Justice Act
Act 1986. The UK has made praise worthy efforts in trying to prevent cyber

criminals; the amendments demonstrate the UK’s tougher position in

combating cybercrimes. Also, innovative proposals aimed at child sex

offences have been introduced by the home office as well as the advent of

the National Hi-tech crime Unit. This brings the police, the private sector

and academics together to combat cybercrime which ultimately ensures

the participation of all key parties in the fight against cybercrime.91

United States

The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996 92 protects

individuals against various crimes involving “Protected computers”.93 Both

US secret service and the FBI have jurisdiction over offences committed

under NIIPA. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 198694 is also

aimed at non-traditional crimes such as hacking. It prohibits any

obtaining, altering or preventing unauthorized access to electronic storage.

In the US jurisdiction and applicable law has been determined on a case

by case court analysis rather than applying strict written codified rules.

The US approach has traditionally considered notions of “reasonableness”

and “fundamental fairness” to both plaintiffs and defendants.

91 Op cit p.214
92 Hereinafter referred to as NIIPA or “the 1996 Act”
93 Section 1030 of the Title 18 of NIIPA
94 Hereinafter referred to as ECPA
The case of US V. GORSHOV95 raises controversy about a country’s

jurisdiction to enforce its laws regarding cyberspace cases. In this case,

some Russian nations were identified as hackers who had been breaking

into the computer systems of American businesses. They were arrested by

the FBI agents and information was retrieved from Russian companies by

the FBI agents without warrant. The District court found that there had

been no violation of the fourth amendment, which did not encompass

extra-territorial searches of non-US citizens nor was there any violation of

Russian law. Bold attempts are being made in the USA to respond to the

increase in cybercrime, such as the project safe childhood to combat child

exploitation on the internet and the use of specialized prosecutors to fight

cybercrimes in the US Attorney’s offices nationwide. In August 2008, the

US senate passed a Bill on cybercrime to modernize the country’s

computer crime laws and to provide prosecutors with more leeway in

pursuing cyber criminals. Current federal cybercrime laws cover extortion

to address shortcomings in the existing law. Further, the US introduced a

new Bill, which if passed will penalize economically foreign countries that

choose or fail to put a stop to cyber criminal activity originating from within

their borders. These discuss shows that the United States is taking the

lead in addressing cybercrime. The advent of the new Bill also illustrates

that US is taking the lead in updating outdated computer laws to keep

95 2001 WL 1024026
abreast with advancing computer technology. The ratification of the

Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention by US has received much

needed support in the global fight against cybercrime.

India

The Indian parliament considered it crucial to give effect to the resolution

by which the General Assembly adopted Model law on Electronic

commerce adopted by the United Nations Commission on Trade Law, as a

consequence of which the Information Technology Act 2000 was passed

and enforced on 17th May, 2000. The Act provides a legal framework for

the security of all electronic records and activities carried out by electronic

means. The IT Act 2000 also provides legal recognition of digital signatures

and a legal framework for E-governance, offences, penalties, adjudication

and investigation of cybercrime.96 Though the Act was a welcomed

initiative it had its shortcomings, the Act contained ambiguous definitions

and has been criticized for not effectively addressing cyber harassment

and cyber stalking. Further, there was an apparent lack of awareness by

citizens about their rights; the questions of jurisdiction as well as extra-

territorial jurisdiction were also not addressed in the Act.97

4.4 CONCLUSION

96 Sections 43, 65, 66, 67 & 75 of IT Act 2000

97 www.ind.ii.org assessed 28/6/2014
Due to the borderless nature of the internet, cyber security as a global

issue requires coordination and international cooperation among law

enforcement agencies. Nigeria should be more proactive in the

international arena and should also consider the adoption of the Council

of Europe Cybercrime Convention. This would strengthen the existing legal

framework and develop much closer international coordination with law

enforcement groups from other countries to combat cybercrime more

effectively.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 SUMMARY
This work has examined the views and opinions of writers and

scholars on the subject matter. A further milestone was reached at

the history of the concept “Cybercrime” and criticisms on the work of

some writers achieving a better understanding of the concept

“Cybercrime”. Furthermore, this research work examined the

Cybercrimes as evident in Nigeria, to wit: Email Scams/Spam, Cyber

Stalking, Cyber Squatting, Cyber Terrorism, theft of communication

services, internet pornography, identity theft and impersonation,

Phishing, ATM/Credit card fraud, cyber piracy, cyber hacking

computer vandalism, illegal E-lotteries etc.

Moreso, an examination of the existing legal regime for combating

Cybercrimes in Nigeria which are the EFCC Act, Criminal Code Act,

Evidence Act 2011, etc. A criticism and analysis of the CyberSecurity

Bill 2011(now Cybercrime Bill, 2013) was established.

Finally, an attempt was made to examine international legislative

framework on cybercrimes vis-à-vis the Council of Europe (COE)

Draft Convention on Cybercrimes and Cybercrime Legislation in

other Jurisdictions like the United States of America, United

Kingdom and India.

5.2 CONCLUSION
Nigeria has been criticized for dealing inadequately with cybercrimes

as their law enforcement agencies are inadequately equipped in

terms of personnel, intelligence and infrastructure, and the private

sector is also lagging behind in curbing cybercrime. Nigeria is

preoccupied with attending to pressing issues such as poverty, the

Aids crisis, the fuel crisis, political instability and traditional crimes

such as murder, rape and theft, with the result that the right against

cybercrime is backwards in law. The existing legal regimes are

inadequate to combat cybercrime in Nigeria even though the

Evidence Act 2011, as tried to incorporate the computer generated

evidence into our laws and also recognizing electronic crimes etc.

Most law enforcement personnel are not adequate to combat

cybercrimes in Nigeria, as if are not equipped with the requisite

technological knowledge while most cyber criminals are experts in

computer technology. In combating these crimes there is need for

education and human capacity development which is one of the most

viable strategies. Further, universities/schools of higher learning and

academic institutions should devise specific courses designed to

allow the next generation of judges and lawyers become skilled in

what is a challenging but lucrative area. This is because there can be

no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaning law

without a court to decide what is just and lawful under any given

circumstance.

More so, computer crime is a threat which needs to be dealt with as

Panetta, US secretary of defence has stated:

The next Pearl Harbor we confront could very well be a cyber

attack that cripples our power systems, our guide, our security
systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems.
This statement goes to show how cyberspace is unsafe and creates a

new world and a need to combat it through legislative intervention is

necessary.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

At this juncture of the study, it is pertinent to state that for there to

be effective regulation of cybercrimes in Nigeria, there is need for re-

organizations and reforms. Suggested reforms include but not limited

to:

1. That a good and effective legal framework be put in place in order to

pursue this crime. This could be achieved by first equipping law

enforcement personnel with requisite technological knowledge.

2. That the legislature and senate committees tasked with combating

crime take this issue to the forefront of the initiatives with a view of

ensuring that the best brains on the issue not only from a legal and

technical point of view but also on experience are actually consulted

and involved in the process. This is necessary so that we generate

 appropriate sections and wordings as well as anticipate what is on

the horizon so that laws that constitute the framework are not

obsolete and ineffective when passed.

3. The Cyber Security Bill 2011 now known as Cybercrime Bill 2013

should be reviewed and requisite amendments should be made to

this Bill before it can be passed into law by the National Assembly in

order that there can be effective implementation of the Act.

4. Nigeria should be more proactive in the international arena and

should also consider the adoption and domestication of the Council

of Europe Cybercrime Convention, this would strengthen the existing

legal framework and develop much closer international coordination

with law enforcement groups from other countries to combat

cybercrime more effectively.