Abstract
Prior to the signing of the Nigerian Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 by former President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on 15 May 2015, which is currently the legal framework for cybercrime enforcement in Nigeria, commentators, in domestic and international reports labeled Nigeria as the hub of cybercrime and cybercrime perpetrators. This paper questions the rationale and the veracity or otherwise of the assertion “Nigeria is the hub of cybercrime and cybercrime perpetrators” and in response, posits two models i.e the Myopic or Constitutional Law Model and the Comprehensive Law Model. The Myopic or Constitutional Law Model basically examines the lack of prior cyber law and poor global rating of Nigeria in cybercrime perpetration as the basis for the conclusion reached by the literature that Nigeria is the hub of cybercrime and cybercrime perpetrators and against the backdrop justify that the basis is one-sided and have been whittled down by the Comprehensive Law Model. While the Comprehensive Law Model on the other hand, portends to show that in the absence of a prior cyber law, Nigeria through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recorded positive achievements in cybercrime enforcement and that the basis for the conclusion is misconceived on the premise that there is lack of available literature on the prosecutorial efforts and numerous convictions recorded against cybercrime perpetrators in Nigeria. In the final analysis, this paper argues that Nigeria is not the hub of cybercrime and cybercrime perpetrators.
Authors: Felix E. Eboibi
