Cybercrime, Threat to National Security, Says EFCC Boss, Olukoyede

•Secured 500 convictions, collaborates with FBI to combat crime

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede,  yesterday declared that cybercrime remained a threat to national security.

He said internet crimes had become a threat to the development of the nation.

He restated the commitment  of the commission to the fight against the scourge.

Olukoyede made the assertion  when he received a delegation from the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) at the corporate headquarters of the commission in Jabi, Abuja.

“As a matter of fact, a consultant was saying that cybercrime has assumed the third largest GDP in the world. It is a sort of crime that we should not take lightly and comes from the readiness from these countries and law enforcement agencies to collaborate, to share information in such a way that each country will take responsibility for what they are supposed to take responsibility for,” he said.

Olukoyede affirmed that EFCC’s operations against cybercrimes were focused,  relentless and fruitful. 

“EFCC,  apart from the Police , is one of the prominent, specialised anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria that has the mandate to investigate cybercrime and we have been doing that.

“In the last few months, we have secured over five hundred convictions in cybercrimes and over the years we have had cause to collaborate with FBI, NCA and other prominent law enforcement agencies in the world in the area of combating cybercrime”.

“We are much ready to do more and also to encourage the heads of the world to give access to information”, he said.

Earlier in his presentation,  leader of the delegation,  Mr. Craig Jones. explained that Interpol was working as a neutral law enforcement agency with private partners across the world to detect and break criminal networks serving fraudsters.  

He disclosed that cybercrime have become global security threats with massive impact.

“I think many countries now recognise that cybercrime is actually a national security threat to countries and this goes hand in hand with financial crimes, because the main motivation of cybercrime normally for the criminals is that financial gain and the impact that it makes on the countries and our communities is massive”,  he said. 

To this end, Jones explained that Interpol continued to identify countries with criminal networks in order to assist them to break such networks.

He also disclosed that a cybercrimes convention is being negotiated with the United Nations (UN) to draw global attention and commitment to the fight against the menace.