The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) has called for stronger cybercrime laws in Nigeria.
The association’s National President, Deolu Ogunbanjo, made the call in an interview with reporters in Lagos on Wednesday.
The call comes amid the Federal Government’s introduction of SPARK, a new Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)-based credit service designed to expand financial inclusion and provide accessible loans to Nigerians.
Ogunbanjo said hackers might test the system’s cybersecurity and stressed the need to ensure it was secure.
“Because a lot of hackers would want to test the vulnerabilities of that system, I think they should ensure that it is well-guarded, so that it will be a seamless system to access,” he said.
Speaking about network disruptions and telecommunications issues, Ogunbanjo urged infrastructure service providers to ensure reliable service.
He also urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to meet with telecommunications companies to ensure seamless transactions across networks.
On conflicting digital identities, such as mismatched National Identification Numbers (NINs) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), which could hinder access to the loan, Ogunbanjo said the initiative would encourage citizens to correct their records.
He added that citizens would need to ensure their information was accurate in the Central Data Registry, housed by the Nigerian Data Protection Commission.
“So it will correct a number of things, because before they give you a loan, a lot of things would have been looked at, particularly all the data in your NIN,” he said.
