The manifestations of social and moral decadence in the Nigerian society continue to deepen. The records of vices of different sorts brewing winds of stormy weather across the Country, seriously pushes the societal fabrics towards the lines of disturbances and unpalatable cohabitation. While the vices continue to assume different dimensions with new facial outlooks, the weakness of the government as the first institution of resort with the baton of force to curtail such menaces is even more disturbing.
One of the disturbing subjects in the basket of vices troubling Nigeria at the moment is the preponderance of internet fraud which most has left many in pain. The escapade has grown to the height of constituting a flag of fear which has evoked the sensation of distrust, strongly breaking down the fabrics of communal living. The profile of internet fraud in Nigeria currently receives utmost support country-wide, souring to worrisome new heights. Many are now evidently settling down into the escapade as a career venture. The weak architecture of the Government to forcefully bring fraudsters to book has widened the network of the misadventure as more youths and adolescents are getting lured to follow the example of those ahead, who, enjoy luxurious living without clampdown. The connivance of security operatives with internet fraudsters, collecting bribes & permitting freedom of operation, is a decadence that speaks ill of constituted authority which is lamentably aiding the proliferation of the menace.
Social rot instituting perversions in Nigeria has hitherto found its place in the Country. Nigeria being heterogeneous has manifests heterogeneous menaces. Social decadence from different angles and at varying levels and degrees have been on the worsening side with increasing exposure. The Country’s fraud profile has become a topical subject in the international system. Fraud and corruption are a stench on its reputation internationally. Cyber crime has recently become a menace that has taken deep root in the Country. The profile of Nigeria on cyber crime has taken an embarrassing turn in the international realm.
While in the past cyber crime used to have its major hold on the targets of foreigners by mischievous Nigerians who are majorly youths. Its tentacles have extended to attract several dimensional brands in recent times. The spread of the tentacles of the menace is such that now portends serious threats to not only foreigners, but more disturbing, Nigerians in the Country. The phenomenon has grown to attract sensations of distrust and suspicion in the Nigerian society with undesirable stench rubbing off on the Country from the international frontiers.
The brandishing of several variants of cyber crime within Nigeria has been endemic in recent times. The preponderance of diverse forms of channels to perpetrate the menace has become disturbing. The menace of the decadence is now becoming a misadventure which many Nigerian youth are now settling for as a venture for work. With the influx of people into the mischief, newer forms of network channels have continued to brew forth with deceptive devices to lure Nigerians into falling into the gimmicks of the plot of the venture. Many victims who have fallen prey of the ploy have had their monies and investment lost to these misadventure spreading like wild fire. The menace has assumed another troubling variant of insecurity in the Country.
In a Statement on Tuesday, it was disclosed that the Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) apprehended 19 suspects allegedly involved in internet related criminal activities. It was reported that they were smoked out of a guesthouse house located in the Mpape suburb of Abuja on January 29, 2021. According to the statement by the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, titled, “19 Internet fraud suspects in EFCC net”, the arrest followed actionable intelligence on their alleged criminal activities. It was gathered that items recovered from them include mobile phones and laptop computers containing various incriminating documents. “They will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded,” the statement had read.
While the Government may be making efforts towards curbing the menace, It is instructive to note that such efforts are largely incommensurate to forcefully combat the height of the preponderance of the decadence in the Country. It is essential that the Government work towards engineering workable strategies and strengthening virile architecture of responsive potency to clampdown on the edifice of internet fraud in the Country. Such strategies should be overarching to clampdown on both fraudsters and their working networks. More importantly, it is essential for the Government to extend the campaign against internet fraud by stretching hands of fellowship to other non-force using institutions, such as the traditional, religious and family institutions to employ an overarching system towards breaking down the networks of internet fraud and its widening tentacles in the Country.