FG moves to adopt policies, legislation to fight cyber-crime

Federal Government has taken several steps through domestic policies and legislation as well as multilateral cooperation and collaboration to fight cybercrime , Mr Abubakar Malami, (SAN), Attorney-General of the Federation, (AGF), said.

Malami made the assertion in Abuja at a meeting with the delegation of the Council of Europe on an Initial Assessment Visit to Nigeria and inauguration of the Global Action on Cyber Crime Plus, (GLACY+), National Coordinating Team.

Malami, who was represented by Mr Umar Mohammed, director, Public Prosecutions, said that the Cybercrime Act, 2015 outlined the legal and institutional framework needed to drive Nigeria’s preparedness to fight cybercrime.

The AGF who doubles as the Minister of Justice noted that in spite of the country’s efforts, there were still gaps in capacity building considering the fast evolving technological developments.

“It is in this light that we welcome this initial assessment visit to identify the priorities that criminal justice authorities in Nigeria have to face, to pinpoint which areas to cover through the capacity building action of the GLACY+ Project.

“This is through direct consultations with stakeholders and to formally inaugurate the requisite GLACY+ National Coordinating Team that will support the Council of Europe in the multi-sector coordination and implementation of the GLACY+ programme in Nigeria.”

According to him, the consultations will serve parties to further identify capacity building issues and challenges particularly in the areas of legislation, capacity of investigators, digital forensics personnel, prosecutors, judges and trainers.

On his part, Mr Matteo Lucchetti, the Project Manager, Cybercrime Programme Office

said that the delegation was in Nigeria to among other things, establish the national team.

“We are here to basically establish the national team in Nigeria to be the entry point for all activities to be developed in Nigeria and to assess the current criminal justice capacity in matters related to cybercrime.

“We will also access the needs of the country in order to prioritise the activities in the country in the order that will be most suitable.”

Lucchetti, who said that the project was co-funded by the European Commission and the Council of Europe added that it currently had 12 countries and would last until 2021.

Mr George-Maria Tyendezwa, national coordinator, expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in him and his team and pledged that the members would work to justify the confidence reposed in them.