Terrorism remains a major threat to international peace and security and undermines the core values of various countries of the world.
Nigeria has a fair share of this serious challenge and continues to face multiple challenges posed by various terrorist groups with devastating human cost, in terms of lives lost or permanently altered, internally displaced persons and immensely negative consequences for economic, political and social development.
Recently, terrorism has taken a new dimension and has become one of the biggest threats not only to the survival of mankind but also the corporate existence of Nigeria. Gbokoharam, kidnapping, senseless killings of innocent citizens and frequent herder famers clash have continued to pose great danger to Nigeria and no day passes without ugly news of bombing, killing and kidnapping.
It is evidently a challenge to national security, and a sure enemy to national development. The effects of this menace are enormous and must be tackled with all amount of seriousness.
In this article, we shall take a look at the cyber tools and techniques used by terrorists in Nigeria in their activities, assess the government’s response so far and proffer solutions or recommendations using modern technology that can help deal with the menace.
No doubt, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has pervaded every facet of human endeavour and terrorist groups too are taking advantage of its potentials to recruit, propagate their propaganda, train its members, communicate, conspire and even go ahead to raise money.
Again, there is no denying the fact that cyberspace has become the biggest promoter of terrorism in Nigeria and unfortunately, the government does not possess the necessary cyber-capabilities to tackle this in the country.
To forestall this, we highlight the need to view the security of the country’s cyberspace as the trigger point in developing effective anti-and counter-terrorism strategies, and consequently, put necessary cyber security measures in place to this effect.
Recommended Modern Technological Methods to Fight Terrorism in Nigeria.
To combat this menace, we must employ the following modern technology methods:
- Among the ways that technology can help find terrorists before a strike occurs include: improved data sharing, “smart ID cards” with biometric identifiers, “smart visas” and improved border security, digital surveillance, and face recognition technology.
- Improvement of data sharing consists of two efforts: The National Crime Information Center (NCIS) should be expanded to accept more information from Federal, State and local agencies, and other databases should be more fully integrated to the extent allowed by law; and Congress should fund matching grants to States to facilitate the purchase of handheld computers that can both query and enter information into databases.
- The use of Smart cards can be very paramount. These are cards that have been implanted with tiny computer chips that contain information. In this wise, we should mandate the relevant agencies to tap into any standardization efforts by State motor vehicle agencies include upgrading all ID cards to smart cards.
The current visa program also should be upgraded to include the issuance of visas as smart cards with biometric data.
- Internet surveillance is an important tool of terrorists, but the government has long had highly restricted authority to conduct surveillance on electronic communications.
It is in the interest of the Government to address privacy concerns without throwing out important tools to monitor criminal use of computers and the Internet.
- The modern day use of CCTV cameras which are still new in Nigeria should be strengthened. Yes! face recognition, that is, the ability of cameras to scan crowds, to capture images of faces, is a powerful tool to checkmate the activities of terrorism in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this has not yielded good result because of privacy issues.
In conclusion, we must also add that defending the Nation against future terrorist attacks includes the following principles: direct anti-terrorism efforts toward system wide improvements; recognize the economic benefits of investment in domestic defense; keep privacy issues in perspective; focus technology procurement on speedy deployment and coordinate domestic defense research and development.
All hands must be on deck involving relevant agencies of government; from the Army – Navy, Air force, Department of State Services, Nigeria Police Force, National Security Adviser, the Federal Ministry of Justice, as well as the Defence Headquarters.