President Bola Tinubu has given his approval for the full enforcement of the amended Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act of 2024 to stop terrorists from using social media.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, announced this in a statement released on Thursday by Zakari Mijinyawa, the Head of Strategic Communications at the Office of the NSA.
Ribadu has instructed all law enforcement agencies, regulators, businesses, and stakeholders in the country to ensure that the enforcement is carried out.
This directive was a result of the high-level African International Counter Terrorism Meeting that took place in Abuja on April 22 and 23, 2024.
During the meeting, African leaders urged for increased support and resources to enhance cybersecurity efforts in Africa, emphasizing the need to take concrete actions to prevent terrorists and organized criminal groups from using social media and other platforms.
Ribadu noted that a levy of 0.5% of the value of all electronic transactions by specified businesses listed in the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act must be paid and credited to the National Cybercrime Fund.
He further stated that all obstacles to fully implementing the cybercrime law have been resolved.
The statement reads, “In view of the need to secure Nigeria’s digital space and safeguard national security and economic interests, as well as deploy additional resources to counter terrorism and violent extremism as provided in Section 44(5) of the Cybercrimes Act, all law enforcement agencies, regulators, businesses, and stakeholders have been communicated by this office to put in place mechanisms for the full implementation and enforcement of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Amendment Act 2024.
“By this amendment, all impediments to the full operationalization of the Cybercrimes Law have been addressed.”
