A group committed to connecting underserved young Africans with digital opportunities and ensuring protection of digital rights, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), has urged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to adopt stricter measures to secure sensitive data of Nigerians against unauthorised access.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the group’s executive director, Gbenga Sesan noted that this became imperative in the face of several unauthorised websites providing access to sensitive personal and financial data of Nigerians for as cheap as N100.
He made reference to certain private websites that had access to personal data of Nigerians and commercialised it for personal gain. Though, it was later pulled down.
He, however, stressed that there should be an immediate and decisive action to address this critical issue, as the government needs to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the illegal online activities, while enhancing cyber-security security measures to prevent further data breaches.
Sesan buttressed that section 30 and section 39 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, all involved agencies of government have a duty to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security and integrity of citizen’s sensitive personal data.
He further called on stakeholders, including government agencies, financial institutions, the private sector, media, researchers and civil society organisations to collaborate in addressing this data privacy crisis.
“Protecting the personal information of Nigerian citizens is of paramount importance and collective efforts are needed to restore trust and ensure the security of our nation’s data infrastructure,” he said.
However, in a chat with the NIMC spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, he debunked the claim saying law enforcement authorities have been authorised to crack down on and apprehend individuals involved in online phishing schemes targeting citizens’ data from other sources.
“President Bola Tinubu has done tremendously well in the area of identity management and by extension, his immense support to the NIMC has seen to the security of the database,” he stated.