The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated its commitment to strengthen cyberspace in its bid to protect telecommunications consumers across the country.
The Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, disclosed this in her opening remarks at the 53rd edition of consumer town hall meeting, tagged: “Mitigating Effects of Cyber Crime: ‘Roles of Telecom Consumers,” in Oyo town, Oyo state.
She decried the activities of hackers and cybercriminals that have been deploying sophisticated systems to dupe Nigerians.
The director, who was represented by Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Alhaji Ismail Adedigba, said: “It is noteworthy that, as the commission embarks on various initiatives to increase access to the internet for Nigerians for positive engagements, we are, nonetheless, conscious of dishonest individuals using the internet for illegal activities.
“The hackers and cyber criminals deploy sophisticated systems to intrude into your connected devices as telecoms consumers to perpetrate their exploitation schemes.
“Cybercrime is on the increase and the commission is committed to using its various outreach programmes to embark on series of awareness campaigns with a view to keeping consumers well informed on the risks associated with being online.”
He emphasised that the regulatory intervention and other initiatives by NCC “are ongoing to sanitise our internet space, telecoms consumers must play their response. Thus, the need for you all to take this meeting seriously as we educate you on what your roles should be in minimising the effect of cybercrime.”
Onwuegbuchulam said one of the initiatives of NCC was to identify, discuss and jointly proffer effective solutions to different issues affecting telecoms consumers in the country.
“As a tripartite programme, the forum aims to, on a continuous basis, engage telecoms consumers by educating, informing and empowering them with information they need to know, their rights when violated by the service providers,” she noted.
The Bashorun of Oyo Kingdom, Chief Yusuf Ayoola, who represented the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, at the occasion, urged NCC to make the town hall meeting a regular event and if possible, should be held every month in order to adequately equip telecoms consumers on how not to be victims of cybercriminals.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Wheel of Hope Consumer Advocacy Group, Mr. Jide Abdul-Azeez, who was the guest speaker, highlighted various ways through which cybercriminals operate.
He enjoined telecoms consumers to be wary of giving out their personal information to unofficial person(s) or entity.
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