Author(s): Felix Emeakpore Eboibi, Omozue Moses Ogorugba
The increasing involvement of some Nigerian youths in the internet fraud scourge significantly impacts foreign victims and the global economy. This has galvanized the government into reappraising measures toward eradicating cybercrimes. Law enforcement agents now act on intelligence reports, which often arguably turn out to be false alarms. Nigerians are arguably being subjected to unlawful stop and search and invasion of digital devices to clamp down on internet fraudsters. The article argues that the effects of the measures, enactment, and consequent implementation in the fight against cybercrime highlight an undue restriction and violation of Nigerians' rights to privacy and freedom of online speech. It adopts a doctrinal and comparative legal approach and identifies that the implementation of Nigerian Cybercrime legal frameworks, has resulted in the violation of legal provisions protecting Nigerian rights to privacy and online freedom of expression in the guise of eradicating cybercrimes, especially when compared to developed economies. Consequently, the article advocates for a rethink of the current measures towards the eradication of cybercrimes in Nigeria with specific emphasis on: directing cybercrime prevention plans to the primary causes, foreign interventions to the specific Nigerian States where cybercrime is a problem and provision of cybersecurity education and research scholarship fund, restriction of cybercrime investigators from interfering with the rights to privacy and online freedom of speech of unsuspecting members of the public, amendment or repeal of section 24 of the Nigerian Cybercrimes Act 2015.