SIR: The saying that the devil makes work for idle hands is proving terrifyingly true in Nigeria as a sprawling army of internet fraudsters dreaming of the dreamy exploits of the likes of Hushpuppi, and a bevy of others, is crashing into Nigeria‘s cyberspace.
They are everywhere these days, and they have in their massed ranks a lot of teens and young children. However, they are unmistakably internet savvy, hungry for success, marked by poverty and riven by unemployment. Armed with internet enabled gadgets, they flock into the cyberspace where their victims who include locals and foreigners alike, keep a trickle of funds coming their way.
With each passing day, their sophistication grows, with necessity proving the fruitful mother of invention.
They used to primarily target Nigerians who had bank accounts. Their modus operandi was to mysteriously dig up the names and phone numbers of bank customers and call them. Then, they would pose as bank staff and say something fictitious but fairly convincing about the accounts of their victims. Then they would ask for private bank details after which they would proceed to milk their victims dry. When they started with this, many fell for their antics but with banks educating their customers on the activities of the rampaging criminals, and more victims sharing their unpalatable experiences, Nigerians are now the wiser.
With their antics discovered, they have been forced to upgrade and these days, they net victims all over the world, consequently dragging Nigeria‘s already soiled reputation through even more dirt.
So, internet fraud thrives. Many of those who indulge in it are young, technology savvy and hungry for quick cash. Many of them belong to the generation of young Nigerians that has witnessed some of the worst plunder of Nigeria‘s commonwealth. Thus, many of them have grown up seeing and hearing for themselves the massive amounts of public funds that have gone unaccounted for into private pockets in Nigeria. As such, they know that there is a highway to riches that is peculiarly Nigerian.
So, with their internet-enabled phones and laptops, they comb the cyberspace, searching for ‘clients.’ The harm has been incalculable.
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In 2020, protests, unprecedented since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 erupted all across the country. The chief target of the protests was the Special Anti-robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force that was established to check the menace of armed robbery and kidnapping but which had itself become a big part of the problem it came to solve.
The lead protestors were young Nigerians full of bile formed during countless close encounters with men of SARS who arbitrarily branded them thieves and internet fraudsters, and proceeded to harass them.
The deep-seated resentment towards SARs was also fueled by the fact that young Nigerians perceived in its heavy-handed methods, an endorsement from President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2018 branded Nigerian youths lazy. SARS was quickly taken down. Another similarly monstrous police unit is yet to take the place of SARS but Nigeria currently faces a mounting crisis of internet fraud.
With the internet being the diverse tool that it is, the possibilities are endless. Nigeria has in place a number of laws to check cybercrime and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is always beside itself trying to rein in internet fraudsters. Yet, it is easy to see that in the endless space that the internet is, it is easy for Nigeria‘s reactionary laws and even more reactionary law enforcement to get lost.
The campaign to rid Nigeria of cybercriminals promises to be a long one not only because internet fraud is lucrative, but because it is perfectly playing into the hands of many young people who have seen their options evaporate in the cauldron of social insecurity that Nigeria is.
Addressing this problem means Nigeria must look hard and long at itself in the mirror. Nigeria must address the root causes of this social infirmity. This exercise in self-reflection is admittedly beyond the current crop of Nigeria‘s leaders.
For as long as it remains that way, internet fraud will continue to boom in Nigeria, biting into the hard-earned money of countless Nigerians, and the already battered image of the country.
- Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com