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FG Donates 1,000 Laptops to Nigerian Women
The National Centre for Women Development, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, has given over 1,000 brand new laptops to Nigerian women trainees in the six geopolitical zones of the country, its Director-General, Dr. Asabe Bashir, has said.
According to her, the donation was one of the core targets of Social Development Goal 5, on the use of ICT to promote the empowerment of women in the country.
A statement by the Head (Press and Public Relations Unit) in NCWD, Ibrahim Nassir, said Bashir stated these in Abuja on Friday where 90 participants comprising of 45 persons with disabilities exposed to ICT assistive technology and 45 female technicians on ICT and Mechatronics graduated in a grand ceremony.
“Over 10,000 Nigerian females have been trained on various ICT courses between 2018 and now”, she stated.
Bashir emphasised that the training was aimed at exposing the participants to various information and communication technologies applications, tools and techniques with significant impact on their lives, allowing them to enhance their social, cultural, political, and economic integration and become self-reliant.
The NCWD DG reiterated her commitment to the implementation plan of action adopted by the World Summit on Information Society, including two critical areas for persons with disabilities, namely access to information, knowledge, and capacity building.
“Each year, we continue to train and empower persons with disabilities and foster the effective use of ICTs that are accessible, adaptive and affordable”, she stressed.
Having recognised the driving force of information communication technology, she stated that ICT remained the primary gadget for all progressive knowledge based and skills-oriented development activities and initiatives in all spheres of human endeavour.
She stated that ICT remained the catalyst for change in working conditions, handling and exchanging of information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research and in accessing information.
Bashir commended the President, Muhammadu Buhari for his inclusive initiative aimed at ensuring that no one was left out in the scheme of things and his desire to ensure that women take advantage of ICT to improve their well-being.
She assured the participants that under her watch, the NCWD would continue to encourage the youths and women, who constitute more than 70 per cent of the nation’s population, in order to harness the potent powers of ICT to enable them substantively participate and benefit from the information revolution across the country.
Bashir charged the participants to practice what they have learned and shared it with other women in their community and assured them of her continuous support and monitoring.
Delivering an overview of the programme, Morrison Udobong, the Head of ICT Department, said that technology is playing a role in all kinds of careers ranging from art to history and law, making it skills accessible to women/girls to set them up for economic independence.
He stated that ICT sector needed more girls and women as the jobs of the future would be driven by technology and innovation.
“It is projected that 65 per cent of children entering primary school today will have jobs. Girls want to learn, they are stepping up to learn technical skills. Therefore, developing the requisite capacities of girls/women through programmes like this bridge the digital gap and provide an avenue for the country to fully utilize the potentials of girls, women, and youths,” he stated.
A representative of the participants, Ms Charity Mube, thanked the Director-General and her management team for the opportunity granted them to learn ICT to become self-employed.
The highlight of the closing ceremony was the provision of a brand-new laptop, certificate, and stipend as transportation benefits to the ninety participants as well as the group photograph with Director-General and her management team.
Glovo, a multi-category tech company, has announced its integration into the generative AI ecosystem with the launch of its “Shopping Assistant” for ChatGPT and Claude. Users can now discover retail products, compare prices, and seamlessly order any item using natural conversational language with the AI systems.
The Glovo experience inside such platforms introduces a conversational commerce model that shifts from a search-based web to an intent-based web. Rather than navigating traditional app menus and filters, users can express needs, such as asking for a “last-minute gift for a coffee lover under ₦50,000”, and the assistant handles semantic search, location validation, and product curation.
A Seamless, Concierge-Like Experience
Once both platforms have been connected through either ChatGPT or Claude apps, the user will be able to have a multi-turn dialogue where the assistant remembers context and constraints, such as budget caps. Users receive a visual carousel of up to five highly customised product options available at local stores. Each product displays its image, name, store details and ratings, and price. While the search and discovery experience takes place directly on the Generative AI platforms, selecting a product via the “view on Glovo” button takes the user to the Glovo mobile or web app, where the payment and final purchase are exclusively completed.
Strategic Focus on Retail and Growth
Glovo is prioritising the retail and grocery sectors for this initial launch, capturing the established habit of using AI for product research. Generative AI has driven a significant jump in retail traffic globally, so this first-mover advantage aims to meet customers where they are meeting Gen AI daily, and ensure it captures high-intent organic traffic as search behaviours evolve.
“We’re always looking for ways to meet our customers where they already are. Being available on Claude and ChatGPT means people can discover what Glovo has to offer as part of a natural conversation, with no friction. Glovo has always been about being the everyday app that provides choice and convenience, and this is another step in that direction”, said Shiro Theuri, Chief Technology Officer at Glovo.
How to look for products in the Glovo app through ChatGPT or Claude
- The user must sync ChatGPT or Claude with the Glovo app with the plug-in.
- Once synced, the user must type in @glovo followed by their request.
- The AI platform displays a carousel with 5 available options for the user.
- If the user wants to purchase any of the products or continue searching within the Glovo app, they must click “View on Glovo”, which will redirect the user to the Glovo app or website.
- After the order is confirmed, the store will prepare the item(s) and the courier will head up to the pick-up location. The user will receive the order in minutes.
Southeast Asia cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in the subregion, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The massive, unintended geographic shift triggered by intense pressure from international task forces in Myanmar and Cambodia,have seen highly sophisticated criminal networks now establishing footholds in major tech hubs across Kenya and Nigeria, transforming local technical talent into accomplices for industrial-scale digital theft as reported by https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/
This strategic migration represents a critical evolution in the $17 billion crypto scam economy.
Transnational scam syndicates are organized criminal networks that run industrial-scale online fraud using trapped or trafficked labor.
The UNODC has documented this diversification, noting that African nations are increasingly targeted as operational bases due to robust internet infrastructure and a surplus of unemployed tech workers.
In response, local authorities are engaged in a frantic game of catch-up against well-funded foreign cartels.
Recall that in 2025, UNODC, described the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like a cancer,” into regions with weaker enforcement and limited digital safeguards.
The report pointed to the rapid proliferation of online fraud operations, including cryptocurrency scams and phishing schemes, moving from countries like Myanmar and Cambodia into new footholds in Africa—particularly Nigeria.
A recent case publicized June 12, 2025 by the WeChat public account West Africa Chinese Voice illustrates the trend: Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 177 Chinese nationals in Lagos and Abuja between December 2024 and January 2025.
The suspects were allegedly running scam centers under the guise of corporate offices, where local Nigerians were trained to carry out online investment frauds—many following the “pig-butchering” model, which builds trust with victims before luring them into fraudulent crypto investments.
Authorities seized hundreds of SIM cards, high-performance computers, and prewritten scam scripts during the raids
Ugochukwu Eze, a 47 year-old man, was on Thursday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to steal a total of N800m.
Ugochukwu also known as Amazon, was arraigned before the court by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
DSS accused Ugochukwu of fraudulently hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to remove and divert the sum of N800 million into several accounts in other financial institutions.
M. Bajela,prosecuting counsel, DSS, in the charges filed before the court alleged that the defendant and others now at large, between 2023 and 2026, conspired among themselves and unlawfully and seriously hindered the function of Suntrust Bank Plc’s computer system server and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800 million belonging to the bank.
Ugochukwu was also accused of concealing and transferring various sums of money traced to the unlawful cyber-attacks to some account in some financial institutions.
The offences alleged to have been committed by the defendant according to the prosecutor contravened sections 5; 6(1) and 8 of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2024. And Sections 10, 20 and 18(2)(D) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
Based on his plea of not guilty, the prosecutor asked the court for a trial date, and prayed the court to remand the defendant in the facility of the correctional services pending the time trial will commence.
However, E. Afrogha, defendant’s lawyer, told the court that she has filed her client’s bail application. adding that her client has been in the DSS custody for over a month.
But the prosecution counsel told the court that he has not been served with the bail application, not withstanding that his witnesses are available.
Based on the counsels’ submissions, Justice Friday Ogazi, presiding judge, adjourned the matter to August 24,2026 for hearing of the bail application.
The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) pending the hearing of the bail application.
One of the counts against the defendant reads: “That you UGOCHUKWU EZE (AKA AMAZON) (M) (47 YEARS) sometime between 2023 and 2026 in Lagos, and other places within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully seriously hindered the function of SunTrust Bank Plc’s computer system, and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800, 000,000.00 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) belonging to the said SunTrust Bank thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc.) Act, 2024.”
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