Cybercrime in Nigeria and its implications

Encyclopedia Britannica defines cybercrime as the use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy. In other words, any criminal activity that can be carried out with the use of a computer is regarded as cybercrime. That is to say, cybercrime is not limited to only Internet fraud or scam.

In Nigeria, cybercrime has become the order of the day amongst the youth. One can boldly say many Nigerian youths are cybercriminals (Yahoo boys).

This is highly worrisome because it does not, project or present the people/the image of Nigeria decently to the people of the world. Consequently, people in other countries, especially the US and the UK, are very wary of how they engage with certain Nigerians in doing business.

There are many factors that contribute to many of our youths actively engaging in cybercrime. To many, it has become their occupation and source of livelihood because of lack of employment opportunities in the country. The high rate of unemployment in Nigeria tops the list of reasons why they engage in it.

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According to youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022, about 53.40 per cent of Nigerian youths are unemployed.

Unemployment largely contributes to why many of them engage in cybercrime. This is more so, especially among university graduates who become frustrated after graduating for several years without job. Such youths become readymade materials to be engaged in cybercrime.

Other factors such as poverty, peer/societal/parental pressures, and the desire to get rich quickly culminate in why they involve in cybercrime.

In conclusion, I urge the Nigerian youth to refrain from scam-related businesses. Doing so would help to reclaim and represent the country’s glorious image.

Suggestively, the Internet space has several legitimate businesses which the youth can do to earn money. Likewise, there are valuable skills they can possess to harness monetary opportunities in society and beyond.

Gbewa Segbenu wrote via [email protected]