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Experts Urge PMB to Proclaim October Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s converged ICT and broadcasting sectors have asked the federal government of Nigeria to consider the adoption of October as the national cybersecurity awareness month in line with global best practices as a matter of urgent national priority.
This call was made at the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NASCAM) conference held at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, recently.
The call was the consensus of most speakers and participants at the one-day conference.
They stressed that cyber security should be given additional attention by the federal government of Nigeria going by the exponential growth of Internet related activities in the country and the growing vulnerability of the government, corporate and individual citizens to the threats of cyber criminals.
Delivering a paper on ‘Internet Jurisdiction: A Catch-22 Situation And The Trajectory Of Nigeria’s Judicial System’, Kunle Adegoke, managing partner, M. A. Banire and Associates said, “The evil effect of cybercrimes can be hardly exhaustively appreciated as same may seem to be limitless. According to a report, “Cyber-crime costs the global economy about $445 billion every year, with the damage to business from the theft of intellectual property exceeding the $160 billion loss to individuals from hacking”. A 2012 report says that Nigeria lost over 2 trillion naira to cybercrime in 2012and $200 million per annum. The amount of loss annually occasioned now can be better imagined as youths today see cybercrime as an open sesame to sudden riches.”
While commending the Nigerian government for enacting the enabling law to deal with cyber criminality, he called for the strengthening of the existing laws because “The computer has created a different world of cyber existence where man can live without laws of ancient regime. The benefits of burden of human relations have occasioned cyber-crime as well.”
He expressed concern that “it is not good for technology to run faster than law. Whenever, technology moves faster than law, what you will have is a legal vacuum”. Nigeria suffered this legal vacuum for a long while.”
Emeka Mba, immediate past director general, National Broadcasting Commission, also expressed the need for increased citizens and government’s participation in awareness creating and pragmatic interventions in the cyber security issues and challenges.
He said that even the broadcast industry that used to have a sense of immunity against cyber-attacks is now more vulnerable like every other IT entities because of the convergence of technology which has allowed for the integration of Internet Protocols in the broadcasting industry and the emergence of Smart television sets.
He underscored in his concern when he cited the instance On April 8, 2015, hackers penetrated the French broadcaster TV5Monde, crippling email and production facilities, hijacking social media accounts and disrupting the transmission of 11 channels for three hours.
Putting it in context, Mba said “that Few years ago, the major head ache for a pay tv service was smart card hacking, and piracy, today its much worse. According to a new report in Digital TV Europe “Cybercriminals target broadcasters up to 1,000 times a day.”
According to him, for years the industry has been moving away from traditional, analog audiovisual broadcasting technology towards digital-only, network-based infrastructures.
This is a logical and necessary process for broadcast companies to keep pace with technological development, and to benefit from the efficiencies of digital media network distribution.
But any system based on delivering digital media over the internet is potentially vulnerable to cyber-attack from outside.
“Broadcast signal intrusion is the hijacking of broadcast signals of radio, television stations, cable television broadcast feeds or satellite signals. Hijacking incidents have involved local TV and radio stations as well as cable and national networks, he stated.
Reverend Sunday Afolayan, president, Nigeria Internet Registration Association, (NIRA), who spoke on Internet governance, highlighted some of the issues that have made it pertinent for the Nigerian government to speedily consider the presidential proclamation of October as the national cyber security awareness month.
According to him, the proliferation of the IoT has led to the issue of breaches and surveillance (by the Government or Individuals) because most of our data are online.
He said as well that broadband penetration is narrowing digital, physical, economic and educational divides. This according to him is resulting in global GDP growth.
Afolayan noted as well that the cyber space is now a veritable channel for the dissemination of “propaganda to promote violence. This includes radicalization, recruitment and financing organized crimes using the Internet. Online child sexual exploitation. The internet as both tool and object of militant protest either for liberation or for domination”.
Shina Badaru, publisher and founder Technology Times, canvassed for a presidential amnesty for cyber criminals in order to allow government access the potentials of the IT savvy individuals for positive trajectories in building a wall of defence in the nation’s electronic boundaries across the board.
While saying that the nation’s conventional security forces might have been over stretched and ill-equipped to tackle the dynamic tactics and strategies of the cyber goons, Badaru said that those granted the amnesty could be converted to the nation’s strategic ‘army’ to combat the looming threats from the new frontiers to national security.
Victor Phikparobo Idohor, director general, Cyber Security Challenge Nigeria, said cautioned that no one or organisation is immune to the real and present danger in the cyber space.
He concurred with Badaru on the need for a dedicated law enforcement agency particularly for cyber security in Nigeria. He stressed that the emerging threats in the cyber space is beyond amateur hacks to the looming attacks on corporate entities and businesses.
According to him, the attacks on infrastructure presents gloomy picture of the threats to nation at large.
Ikem Ohuhu, Brandish.com.ng Publisher, spoke on the break away from the silos of expert discussion on cyber security to a more inclusive citizens’ participation at all levels.
According to him, cyber security challenge has gone beyond the experts’ enclave and should now be broken down in the common man’s language in order to have a comprehensive frontal defeat of the menace.
The one-day conference was attended by representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, EFCC, DSS, civil society group, Lagos State government, students, developers, start-ups, entrepreneurs, banks, insurance companies and ICTs fraternal agencies and the media.4
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Accordingly, the organisation has decided to remove the article from its platforms pending the conclusion of the legal processes or the availability of additional verified information.
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INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 revealed that Artificial intelligence accounts for 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across Africa and making attacks faster, more sophisticated and increasingly difficult to detect.
The report warns that the continent’s rapid digital transformation, marked by more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2025, is being matched by an equally rapid evolution in cybercrime, while fragmented legislation and limited AI readiness among law enforcement agencies continue to weaken responses.
The 40-page assessment, based on survey data from 36 African member countries, said cybercrime has shifted from isolated criminal activity to an industrialised, borderless ecosystem powered by AI.
According to the report, East Africa has become a hotspot for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure, while business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams are widespread across Central and West Africa.
Southern Africa, it noted, has become an attractive target for international cybercriminals due to its high level of internet connectivity.
The report also highlighted the growing financial impact of cybercrime across the continent, revealing that losses have more than doubled since 2024, rising from 192 million dollars to 484 million dollars.
It attributed the increase largely to AI-enabled scams, credential harvesting and automated social engineering attacks.
INTERPOL said online scams remained the most commonly reported form of cybercrime in 2025, with criminals exploiting mobile money platforms, social media and AI-generated content to deceive victims.
It added that 72 per cent of surveyed countries reported the existence of scam centres, with the highest concentration recorded in Southern and West Africa.
The report further identified digital sextortion and online harassment as persistent threats, driven increasingly by AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media.
According to data from TrendAI, one of INTERPOL’s partners, about 600,000 sextortion incidents were detected during the reporting period.
Business email compromise schemes have also become more sophisticated, with AI being used to generate highly convincing email communications.
The report said Africa-based threat actors are increasingly targeting victims in Europe and North America using cyber infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions.
INTERPOL warned that the absence of real-time information sharing between banks, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies has created significant vulnerabilities in tackling financial cybercrime.
It said cybercriminals are no longer relying solely on stolen credentials but are now creating AI-generated synthetic identities by combining genuine personal information with fabricated details.
These synthetic identities, the report noted, have been used to bypass biometric verification systems, open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans and register SIM cards under false identities.
Neal Jetton, Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, described cybercrime as one of the most significant criminal threats facing Africa.
“Cybercrime has emerged as one of the most significant criminal threats to the region. AI is automating every stage of a cyberattack from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion.
“However, we see that when countries work together, cybercriminal infrastructure can be identified, disrupted and dismantled,” he said.
Despite the growing threat, the report highlighted progress in strengthening cybersecurity across the continent.
It disclosed that 17 African countries enacted or amended cybercrime legislation in 2025, while Senegal launched an online reporting platform to improve responses to online offences affecting children.
The report also noted that regional capacity-building initiatives are helping to improve long-term cyber resilience.
INTERPOL said four major cybercrime operations conducted in 2025, Operation Serengeti 2.0, Operation Contender 3.0, Operation Sentinel and Operation Red Card 2.0, resulted in more than 1,500 arrests, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices and the recovery of over 100 million dollars.
To address the growing threat, the report recommended the adoption of standardised digital forensic capabilities, stronger cross-border collaboration, greater investment in AI literacy for law enforcement personnel and formal public-private partnerships to improve cybercrime prevention, detection and response.
The African Cyberthreat Assessment 2026 forms part of INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime initiative, funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with data contributions from Fortinet, Mastercard, the Shadowserver Foundation, S2W and TrendAI.
Nigerian students will soon design, assemble, test and fly drones as part of their university education, following a partnership between Miva Open University and Abuja-based defence technology company Terra Industries.
The collaboration comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to develop indigenous capabilities in advanced manufacturing and defence technology, with both organisations seeking to strengthen Africa’s pipeline of deep-tech talent.
The partnership will see students gain hands-on experience in drone engineering and related technologies through dedicated labs and industry collaboration.
The partners will establish robotics, drone and virtual reality laboratories across Miva’s study centres, beginning with a pilot facility in Abuja.
Students will also gain access to industry-led workshops, research opportunities, internships and mentorship in artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity and autonomous systems.
According to the partners, Terra’s engineering teams will work alongside Miva faculty to integrate hands-on hardware training into academic programmes, exposing students to real-world engineering challenges and building industry experience before graduation.
Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and CEO of Terra Industries, said Africa’s technological future depends on developing engineers capable of building solutions for local challenges.
“The engineers who will build Africa’s future must learn by building. This partnership creates opportunities for students to work with the technologies shaping modern security, infrastructure and autonomous systems,” said Nwachuku.
Miva Open University said the initiative forms part of its commitment to experiential learning, adding that students will have the opportunity to “design, test and fly drones as part of their academic experience”.
The partnership builds on Terra’s expanding role in Nigeria’s defence technology sector. Earlier this year, the company signed a joint venture with the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria to localise the production of drones, robotics systems and cybersecurity infrastructure, supporting efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports.
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