The Federal Ministry of Justice has called for stronger cooperation among government agencies, technology companies, financial institutions and citizens to tackle cybercrime and protect Nigeria’s digital space.
The Deputy Director and Head of the Ministry’s Cybercrime Unit, Jamila Ade, made the call ahead of the 2026 Cybercrime Awareness Campaign, themed “Securing Nigeria’s Digital Future: A Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society Response to Cybercrime.”
Ade said cybercrime often involves multiple institutions and crosses national borders, making collaboration essential to investigating cases and bringing perpetrators to justice.
She explained that a single fraud case could involve victims, banks, telecommunications operators, social media platforms, law enforcement agencies and regulators.
She said the campaign’s awareness walk and fiesta at Eagle Square would educate Nigerians on how to identify scams, protect themselves online and report cybercrime incidents.
Assessing the country’s progress, Ade said Nigeria had strengthened international partnerships, inter-agency cooperation and training for investigators and prosecutors in digital forensics, electronic evidence and cryptocurrency tracing.
However, she identified low public awareness, underreporting, delays in obtaining electronic evidence from foreign service providers and a shortage of specialised skills as major challenges.
She also warned that emerging threats, including artificial intelligence-enabled impersonation, deepfakes, social engineering and digital payment fraud, required continuous training and stronger partnerships.
“I would not say we are fully prepared, and no country can honestly say that,” she said.
Ade disclosed that national consultations involving government, industry, civil society and academia would assess existing laws and institutions and their readiness to address AI-enabled crimes, electronic evidence, cross-border cooperation and victim protection.
She said the consultations would produce recommendations for relevant authorities, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, while proposals requiring legislative changes would follow the appropriate process.
Ade urged Nigerians to verify information before acting on it, avoid sharing one-time passwords (OTPs) and personal identification numbers (PINs), use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication and report cybercrime promptly.
“Cybercrime thrives where people stay silent. Securing our digital future is a shared responsibility, and everyone has a part to play,” she said.
