News
Paradigm Initiative Unhappy with Alleged Government’s Attempts to Clampdown on Online Newspapers

By peter
Paradigm Initiative has expressed displeasure over alleged Federal Government’s secret attempts to block the domain names of several identified websites accused of threatening national security in Nigeria.
These attempts are an unacceptable violation of constitutionally and globally guaranteed rights of expression and information.
According to a report published in the Nigerian Tribune, the Federal Government is alleged to be currently carrying out this operation through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), ostensibly hiding behind Section 146 of the NCC Act 2003.
The section, which provides generally on the duties of a network licensee to assist the Commission in preserving national security and preventing the commission of a crime, must not be used by the Federal Government to intimidate online news providers and infringe on their rights.
According to Adeboye Adegoke, Paradigm Initiative’s Program Manager Magoyi (ICT Policy), “Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria expressly provides that every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides similarly that everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”
While commenting on the development, Paradigm Initiative’s Director of Programs, Tope Ogundipe says that “whatever process is underway by the influence of the NCC and the NSA would result in a violation of the Constitution and should, therefore, be halted. The Federal Government should desist from covert acts as such and should instead release a list of such sites purportedly threatening national security and follow the due course of the law in handling this matter transparently.”
Mrs Ogundipe further states that in an already declining society which pays minimal regard to the freedom of expression and press freedom, a dangerous precedent would be set if the NCC goes ahead with this plan to restrict access to certain websites in the Nigerian Cyberspace.
While speaking further on the development, Program Manager, Magoyi (ICT Policy), Adeboye Adegoke said that, “The right to receive information and the right to give information is expressly codified in legal instruments recognized in Nigeria and so it would be sheer defiance by the NCC to attempt to make a derogation in such a manner”
Paradigm Initiative has noted the denial of this censorship plan by the Minister of Communications, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, stating that he was not aware of any plan by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to gag online newspapers.
The Honourable Minister should go a step further to investigate this claim and make a commitment to press freedom and unhindered internet freedom. On its part, Paradigm Initiative will continue to monitor the development and will deploy every legitimate advocacy tools to get to the root of it in ensuring that fundamentally guaranteed rights of citizens are safeguarded.
News
EFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud

Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed that the agency has recovered some money from the digital investment platform Crypto Bridge Exchange trading platform that crashed last month leaving many investors weeping and counting their losses.
In an interview with TVC on Sunday, May 25, Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC has made arrests in connection with the CBEX fraud. He added that the EFCC has made significant progress in its investigation into the crypto scheme that scammed many Nigerians.
“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money”he said
Olukoyede explained further that although the stolen money was in cryptocurrency, the EFCC has managed to trace and recover part of it. He however mentioned that converting the funds back to dollars in cash was not easy because it required going through similar crypto processes.
“Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them. There is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process.”he said
The EFCC boss added that some suspects have already been arrested, noting that the agency is still pursuing others who are on the run.
“We have gone far. We have made a reasonable arrest. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he said.
He, however, said the investigation has been challenging because the fraudsters used “non-custodial wallets,” which means there was no identity attached to the accounts, making it harder to trace the criminals.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody.
So, from the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.
That is to the extent that we have gone. I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this” he said.
In April, CBEX collapsed, leaving investors with reported losses of over N1.3 trillion.
The platform became inaccessible after users faced repeated withdrawal issues, which were soon followed by the sudden disappearance of their account balances.
The incident, however, triggered widespread reactions, especially on social media, where users have voiced their anger, concerns, and disappointment.
Despite this, CBEX resumed operations, announcing fresh withdrawal options in a move to restore investor confidence.
News
Toll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December

Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced that a section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December.
Umahi disclosed this during an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said: “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway. We project a 10-year return on investment.
“The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure, and offers carbon credit advantages.
“It is more than a road; it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”
According to the minister, 30 kilometres of Section 1 have already been completed, with an additional 10 kilometres in Section 2 nearing delivery. Both segments feature six-lane concrete-paved carriageways, designed to meet modern standards for safety and durability.
Umahi further revealed that construction had commenced on Sections 3 and 3B of the highway, spanning a total of 65 kilometres, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.
He described the positive response from local communities as a clear indication of the project’s wide-reaching socioeconomic benefits.
“Just days ago, we flagged off Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom. The host communities’ excitement speaks to these projects’ transformative impact,” he said.
Umahi also highlighted the administration’s renewed focus on the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, which he noted was part of a broader vision dating back to colonial-era trade plans.
“The Trans-Saharan trade route dates back to colonial-era planning. President Tinubu is now bringing these long-abandoned visions to life,” the minister explained.
News
Kaspersky Uncovers Dero Crypto Miner Spreading via Exposed Container Environments

Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.
The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.
In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.
Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.
According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.
Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.
The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.
“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.
“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.
The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.
- E-Business3 days ago
Nigeria Launches Cybercrime Team with Commonwealth, UK Support
- Telecom3 days ago
Telecom Subscribers Decline By 43m in One Year
- Telecom3 days ago
NCC Orders Telcos to Compensate Subscribers for Outages More than 24 Hours
- E-Financial3 days ago
SERAP Drags CBN to Court over Alleged Failure to Disclose LG Allocations
- General News3 days ago
HEDA Sues FG, Oil Giants over Alleged Unlawful Oil Licence Transfer
- E-Financial2 days ago
EFCC Recovers over N20Bn Stolen by Hackers from 6 Banks in Nigeria
- Telecom2 days ago
Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani Receives Two Prestigious @ABoICT Awards
- Telecom3 days ago
IHS Nigeria, NSCDC Partner to Protect Telecoms Infrastructure