A United Kingdom-based cybersecurity expert, Mr. Remi Afon has urged the Nigerian government to constantly and consistently train the country’s security agencies, especially the Military on the workings and patterns of online.
Afon, who is also the President of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), noted that the training has become expedient, owing to the growing use of social media and other online platforms by terrorists.
“The Nigerian government needs to take the issue of cybersecurity more seriously. Our Law Enforcement Agencies and the military must be trained in the art of uncovering criminal patterns online,” he said in a tweet via his twitter handle @RemiAfon.
He argued that having knowledge of how the Internet work, will allow the Military to prevent counterterrorism and extremism in Nigeria, which is most of the time initiated and coordinated using various online mediums.
Afon’s call is unconnected with the disclosure by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami that terrorists are presently recruiting members on social media.
Reports have quoted the Minister as saying that terrorists are exploiting social media, encrypted communications and the dark web to spread propaganda, recruit new followers and coordinate attacks.
The Minister, while delivering a lecture on leadership in counter-terrorism and counter violent extremism in Abuja, had urged the Nigerian Military to approach the fight against terrorism with adequate data through technologies like Big Data Analytical, Internet of Things (IOT), Robotics and Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI).