News
WITIN Holds 6-Week Summer iCamp for Children
Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) said preparations are on top gears towards hosting a six-week online work-at-home summer camp for children between the ages 9 to 18.
The programme tagged: “iCamp 2014”, WITIN said, children can participate from anywhere in the world, even as they are open to sponsorship.
While addressing journalists at this year’s two-day Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition (TSSS) organized by Edumark in Lagos, Martha Alade-Omoekpen, president, Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), said the essence of the iCamp is to help young minds discover their innate ICT talents, provide digital opportunities by exposing them to high profile software that will advance and aid learning beyond the walls of classroom setting.
She said the summer programme will inspire innovative tendencies in the participating children.
“We are not just reaching out to adults alone; we are now reaching out to adolescents. However, there was a dossier raised that the way we are going the males might turn ‘endangered species’. So, through the iCamp we shall be conducting some research. We want to see how the male and female children are embracing and using technology. This iCamp will give us something intelligent to share with stakeholders,” she said.
The ingenuity of the iCamp attracted Yinka Ogunde, coordinator of the Edumart who expressed delight over WITIN’s designed programmes to attract attention of the young people to developing their talents.
Ogunde said: “What Women In Technology is doing is in line with what we are trying to achieve through the Total School Support programme. When we look at issues around, the way technology is redefining the way things are is formidable. It is, therefore, important that we carry the education community along.
“For instance, mothers are so engaged with other things that they find it difficult to teach their children anymore. Thus, the teachers who conduct the teaching should have access to the technology. That is why they know and understand what is going on within the education sector.
“That is what the Total School Support tries to do: bringing up what is new within the educational sector, so that the education community in Nigeria will be aware what is going on. There are organizations developing wonderful things that will change the way a child learns.
“Technology is formidable. You will be amazed what is going on with learning. They are mostly interactive in nature. If a teacher is not careful the children will leave him or her behind”.
On girl child education, she said, “When you educate a woman you are changing the face of a nation; redefining a whole community, society. It is important that the girl child is well educated, because the woman spends more time with the children than the man.
“So, when you educate a girl you are equipping her to be able to nurture your generation yet unborn. There are few times when you see an educated woman raising an uneducated child. She inspires a nation. When you educate a woman, you make her become confident and strong individual and thereby changing the nation”.
She added that girl child education is something every Nigerian should take very serious in country, even engaging them with technology.
Meanwhile, Alade-Omoekpen, listed topic to be covered during the six-week iCamp to include, graphics, drawing, animation, digital story-telling, entrepreneurship, and project.
“We were focusing on Nigeria’s environment; meanwhile, our first registrants are from the United States. They watched the few minutes video on YouTube and were captivated by what they saw. We are expecting more international participants now.
“The reason for the choice of topics is that they are the basics. For instance, the graphics help children tell stories about that are happening around us. They can draw; it is the simplest way for a child to create something.
“We should go beyond using technology. We are so used to using it; however, no matter how small our children are they can create something. For instance, the BringBackOurGirls protests, we turned it into story telling graphics and likened it to a rat trapped in a house. Anybody who views it feels touched and tells why everybody should be concerned about the security situation in our country,” Alade-Omoekpen noted.
She said the programme will not thrive without sponsors hence they are open to sponsorship, adding that the summer programme will also involve children at their different homes and locations.
She also lamented that lack of internet access is a foreseen impediment which prompted why they want to partner with willing private schools to bring the platform closer to the students, while public schools are not excluded.
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.
Atte Ayodeji, a Nigerian computer scientist,has developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of detecting, counting, grouping and generating healthy hair follicles during hair transplant procedures, an innovation that earned him the Best Innovative Technology award.
Atte Ayodeji
Ayodeji also graduated with a Distinction in his Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science from Birmingham City University on Friday, adding another milestone to an impressive academic year.
Beyond his award-winning hair transplant innovation, the Nigerian researcher developed a system and framework on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) as a professional responsibility in the diagnosis of lung cancer.
His dissertation received a silver award at the PGXPO2026 Winter, further highlighting the impact of his research in applying artificial intelligence to healthcare.
Sunday Dare, special adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Tinubu, celebrated Ayodeji’s achievements in a post on X, recalling how he first met him in 2019 during his National Youth Service.
“In 2019 when I became a Minister of the Republic, I met a young man of medium height, genteel with penetrating eyes: Atte Ayodeji. His words rarely come out and he could easily be passed by unnoticed. But I noticed him especially when my SA Kemi Areola brought him to me asking my approval for him to do his Youth Service in my office. I approved. From then on he was unstoppable. His brilliance shown and he developed skills beyond his frame.”
Highlighting Ayodeji’s recent accomplishments, Dare congratulated him saying, “Congratulations Atte. I am proud of you!”
Dimension Data to Channel Funds to Support Nigerian Fibre Expansion
FG Commences 90,000km Fibre Optic Rollout within Weeks
Kaspersky Reveals a New Malicious Framework Targeting Cryptocurrency Users with the Use of OkoSpyware
PalmPay Targets Hong Kong IPO after $1Bn Valuation
CMS T&M Launches TMO Rides to Enable a Faster & Cashless Transport Experience for CMS – Ajah Passengers
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
From Scarcity to Scale: What Africa Can Learn from India’s Agricultural Transformation
EFCC Busts NIS Visa Overstay Racket, Uncovers N700m in an Account
BON Establishes Six Ad Hoc Committees to Modernize Broadcasting
NELFUND Investigates 34 Universities Over Students’ Missing Tuition Refunds
News2 days agoAtte, Nigerian Develops AI Algorithm for Hair Transplants
News2 days agoFG to Abolish Subsidies in Power Sector in 2027 – Minister
E-Financial2 days agoCBN Exposes over 13,000 BVNs Tied to Fraud as Banks Tighten Security
E-Financial2 days agoFCT Court Awards Ex-Customers N15m against Stanbic IBTC over Data Privacy Breach
Telecom2 days agoStarbase Technologies Introduces Yolly, a Reward-Based Social Entertainment Platform
General News2 days agoDare Tackles Onaiyekan over Criticism of Tinubu, Says Economic is Working
General News2 days agoSERAP Asks Tinubu to Probe Alleged N6.79Bn Missing Police Funds, Firearms
Telecom2 days agoAdefolarin Ogunsanya and the Allegations of Shareholder Interference and Self-dealing @Pan African Towers