Group Urges Nigerian Govt To Conduct Survey On Child Internet Abuse

The Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has called on the Nigerian government to consider conducting a survey on child internet abuse.

According to CSEAN’s Lagos branch secretary, Remmy Nweke, the survey will help the government evaluate the rate of child online abuses in the country.

Speaking in a paper titled: “Nigerian Students, Technology Education and Cyber Crime,” Nweke said the boom in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has made it pertinent to conduct the survey so as to measure the rate of such abuses.

He said this during an event organised by the International Centre for Leadership Development Nigeria (ICLDNg) to mark the 2018 World Safer Internet Day (WSID) themed “Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you.”

At the event which held at Itolo Girl’s Senior Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos, the CSEAN Secretary recommended a partnership between the Nigerian government, the Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to carry out the survey.

“This is very key to safety of children online, while they must stick to Closed User Group (CUG), so as to stay safe and share beneficial information,” he said, enjoining children who wish to use social media applications (apps) to ensure those have user content control or user setting options like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook to name a few,” said Nweke, who doubles as the Lead Strategist and Group Executive Editor, DigitalSENSE Africa Media.

“Apply discipline in the use of social media and focus on your education first,” he advised the students selected from various schools in Lagos State.

“The two-factor authentication is available for most social media sites. And if you have social media apps on your phone, be sure to password and protect your device,” he said.

Nweke advised that “If you don’t know the person, don’t accept their request. It could be a fake account”.

Present as panellists at the event were Mrs. Treasures Uchegbu, Taiwo Fashola, Programme Coordinator, Center for African Renaissance and Development (CEFARRD), Uchechi Chukwuma and officials of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) led by Murtala Ariyo, among others.

Other dignitaries at the event included the Lagos State Director, Special Duties, Education District 4, Mr. J.O. Oshodi, Principal, Itolo Girls Senbior Secondary School, Mrs. Olawepo, Chief Operating Officer, ICLDNG, Adedeji Adedoyin and the Executive Director, ICLDNG Mr. Felix Iziomoh.