Daniel Agbolade

Towards ensuring that telecoms users do not fall prey to cyber criminals, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and service providers on Thursday engaged telecoms users and other stakeholders on their roles in curtailing menace of cybercrimes.

The event, which is the 102nd edition of the Consumer Outreach Programme (COP) with the theme, Mitigating Effects of Cybercrime: Roles of Telecoms Consumers.”, was  held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

Present at the ceremony include Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Mr Lekan Balogun; Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in the state, Mr. Toye Arulogun, security personnel, traditional rulers, students, NCC officials, representatives of service providers and other stakeholders.

Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Mrs Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, in her address, said cyberspace covers everything consumers do online or with computing devices, including mobile phones, tablets and personal computers.

Represented by Deputy Director/Head of Legal Services of the commission, Mr. Bashir Idris, Onwuegbuchulam noted that cybercrime is on the increase and as such urges service providers to always demonstrate clearly to “our esteemed consumers”, measures that they have put on their various networks, and the role they think their consumers should play towards safeguarding their subscribers from effects of cybercrimes.

She said, “The commission is committed to using its various outreach programmes to embark on series of awareness campaigns with a view to keeping consumers abreast of the risks associated with being online, enlightening them on safety measures to be taken once they use connected devices as simple as feature phone, smartphones, and other more sophisticated Internet-enabled devices.”

In his welcome address, Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, Mr. Ismail Adedigba, said the theme of the outreach was carefully chosen in order to sensitise telecoms consumers on the rising wave of cybercrime in its various forms, the dangers it poses, as well as the role which telecoms consumers are expected to play in reducing the impacts of cybercrimes on them.

He stated that the commission has initiated a process to establish an Internet Industry Code of Practice for Internet service providers in the country, adding that code is a regulatory intervention that will not only help to secure the country's cyberspace against imminent threats from cyber attackers but also address such issues as online child protection, privacy and data protection, objectionable content, among others.

Adedigba noted that while regulatory intervention and other initiatives are ongoing to “sanitise our Internet Space, telecoms consumers, the majority of whom now use Internet-enabled and other smart devices, must play their role.”

Arulogun in his remarks, said the hours “I have spent here, I like to commend NCC for this very educative programme. The issue of cybercrime has become a national disgrace, local calamity and a cause of individual trauma. It is very important to be educated."

Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Mr Banji Ojo, said “between January 2017 and December 2018, a total of 31,202 consumers have been educated on their rights and privileges with respect to the provision of telecoms services. Within the same period the commission received a total of 118,784 complaints from consumers, of which 92,757 (78 per cent) were successfully resolved to the satisfaction of telecom consumers. Till date, more than 12 million telecom consumers have activated Do-Not-Disturb (DND) code.”