The United States made a big move to help Nigeria with cybersecurity. They set up a special office in their embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.
The news came from Mr. Richard Mills Jr., who is the new U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. He talked about it with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
This new office aims to work closely with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to fight cybercrimes.
Ambassador Mills said the United States is here to support Nigeria in solving the growing issue of cybercrime. This partnership is important to make Nigeria’s cybersecurity stronger and to protect their online systems.
“I want our relationship to grow stronger both in democracy and economy. Our new office will help us work better with the EFCC to fight cybercrimes efficiently.”
During their meeting, Ambassador Mills shared how important this new partnership is. “Nigeria matters a lot to the United States because we share values like democracy, and we are ready to support you completely,” he said.
The special office will help U.S. and Nigerian officials work together more closely. They will offer technical support, training, and resources to the EFCC. This will help Nigeria find, investigate, and prosecute cybercrimes better, making them stronger against such threats.
President Tinubu liked the idea and acknowledged Nigeria’s key role as Africa’s biggest democracy.
“Nigeria is ready to be a good example to other African countries as the largest democracy in Africa.” President Tinubu said.
He believes this cooperation will bring many benefits to both countries, such as enhancing security and boosting economic growth.
Important Information
Nigeria is ranked 5th in the world for cybercrime activities. The top four countries are Russia, Ukraine, China, and the United States.
This ranking comes from the first-ever World Cybercrime Index, made by researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of New South Wales, Canberra.
The index shows the major hotspots for cybercrime around the world, listing the main national sources of such activities.
To tackle the rise in cybercrimes, the U.S. had earlier said they would send a cybercrime advisor to Nigeria. This advisor will help the two nations work together by giving important training, equipment, and technical help to better deal with cyber threats like fraud and sextortion.
This project, set to be funded by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), was announced in a joint statement by the U.S. and Nigerian governments during the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission meeting in Abuja on April 29-30, 2024.
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, said they had removed 63,000 Instagram accounts belonging to Nigerians who were trying to do financial sextortion scams.