CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The rapid rate of developments in information and communication

technology (ICT) all over the world in the past twenty years has led to the stage

where information is digitally imprinted both physically and virtually and can

be accessed remotely by anyone with the right telecommunication tool. This has

given rise to the rapid demand for free, open and global access to information

by users.

This shift from ancient traditional means of information communication

has now provided various platforms for criminal activities on the internet.

Coupled with the fact that laptops, computers, smartphones, tablets and internet

connectivity are becoming more and more affordable to the larger group of

people all over the world. various platforms such as social media, emails, dating

websites, online stores, Mobile Banking, Trade and service websites, and social

engineering has ensured that users have their data online and accessible for ease

of transaction with life and this has greatly increased the rate of crimes being

committed on the internet by mostly youths from developing nations that see it

as a means of survival amidst the ever-increasing poverty that most people

blame on the inefficiency of the government.

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 These technologies and information allow enormous gains and efficiency,

productivity and other benefits that have ultimately created vulnerability to

those that innocently take advantage of the system and new situations.

Cyber-crime is now prevalent in the Nigerian society, of which the most

common is “online fraud, and a large percentage of the society feel it is as a

result of the high rate of unemployment and other social factors that keep the

youths among the Nigerian population idle, coupled with the ‘Get Rich Quick

syndrome’. This makes the youth explore their skills in the cyber world and

how they can benefit from it and not be caught knowing that there are no proper

enforcement mechanisms put in place in Nigeria.

Presently, the law provisioned for cyber-crime in Nigeria is the Cyber-

Crime Act of 2015. It is yet the most recent form of legislation combatting

cyber-crimes in Nigeria. Before this Act, the various agencies tackling cyber-

crime hinged on Section 419 of the criminal code, which was insufficient. Thus,

this study aims at examining the causes and prevention of cyber-crime in

Nigeria, using Suleja as case study, so as to provide possible solutions and

recommendations to successfully combatting these cyber-crime issues in

Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The contribution of internet to the development of the nation; has been

marred by the evolution of new waves of crime. The internet has become an

environment where the most lucrative and safest crime thrives. Cybercrime has
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 become a global threat from Europe to America, Africa to Asia and to the other

parts of the world. Cybercrime has come as a surprise and a strange

phenomenon that for now lives with us in Nigeria. With each passing day, we

witness more and more alarming cases of cybercrimes in Nigeria, with each

new case more shocking than the one before. Hence, it is on this basis that this

study seeks to investigate the "Causes and Prevention of Cybercrime in Suleja".

In order that it may contribute to the solutions of the menace of cybercrime in

Nigeria.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to examine “The Causes and Prevention of

Cybercrime in Suleja”. However, its objectives include;

i. What is the nature of cybercrimes in Suleja, Niger State.

ii. What are the causes of cybercrime in Suleja,

iii. How do the authorities manage cybercrimes in Suleja, Niger State.

iv. How does cybercrime affect the economy of Suleja, Niger state.

v. Investigate the effect of cyber-crime on Nigeria’s reputation in the global

international system,

vi. Subjectively look at the harsh effect of cyber-crime on cyber cafes

operating in Suleja,

vii. Suggest solutions that will further help in formulating policies that will

curb the menace of cyber-crime in Nigeria.

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1.4 Research Questions

Every research is guided by questions that need answers. Thus, the

following research questions were posed by the researcher to guide the study.

i. What are the nature and types of cybercrime?

ii. What are the causes of cybercrime in Suleja?

iii. What are the methods adopted by government and its agencies on

combatting cyber-crimes in Nigeria?

iv. What are the preventive measures in place as relate cybercrime

prevention in Suleja?

v. How can we successfully curb cyber-crime in Suleja?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study is significant in that the findings will be useful in adopting

policies and techniques which are likely to yield better results in curbing cyber-

crime in the country, it will be useful for pupils to identify the causes of their

poor academic achievement in primary science and to create an avenue for

subsequent improvement, it will enlighten the public on the dangers on cyber-

crime and its wanton effect on growth and development, it may constitute the

basis for further researches in this problem area and related areas, and it will

serve as a good source of literature in future researches.

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1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study

This scope of this study is withing the confines of Causes and Prevention

of Cyber-Crime in Suleja and its limitations include, but not limited to;

i. Time: The period of time allowed for this work was short that the

researcher did not have enough time to explore additional areas.

ii. The researchers in the course of data collection, had to put in extra effort to

interpreting their interview schedule of the respondents, some who fall

within the in comprehensible age limit.

iii. Financial Constraint: There were financial and transit constraints. The

research was solely funded by the researcher, thus, he was faced with

struggling to make ends meet in this deteriorating economy, study for final

examinations and conducting this research. This was a daunting task

carried out with the limited finance of the researcher.

1.7 Organisation of the Study

This study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter contains the

background of the study, the statement of the research problem, the objectives

of the study and the research questions that will guide the study. Chapter two

present literature review on the subject matter. Chapter three is the research

design, methodology, data source and model specification while Chapter Four is

based on data presentation and analysis. Chapter Five, which is the last chapter,

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 presents the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the research

findings.

1.8 Definition of Terms

The technical terms defined here are based on their usage in this study.

They include:

Crime: The display, conduct (private or public), act or perpetuation of illegal

act characterized by deceit, betray of trust, fraudulently obtaining another’s

possession under the pretext etc.

Cyber: The use of computers, information systems or the internet.

Cyber-Crime: The use of computers, information systems and/or the internet to

perpetuate illegal act(s), crime characterized by deceit, contentment or

violation of trust.

Cybercrimes Against the Government: The growth of the internet has led to

various crimes and cyber terrorism with the aim of compromising the

national security of a government to gain unauthorized access to their data

and cause a number of other damages e.g. Wiki Leaks who illegally

authorized files from the American government threatening to release them

to the media.

Cybercrime Against Persons: Cybercrime committed against persons or

individuals would include acts such as broadcast of child pornography,

harassment of a person through any electronic device or internet, cyber

bullying, fraud, and sending of viruses and DDOS. Cybercrime against

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 persons can also be looked from the angle of a violation of a right to

privacy of citizens online.

Cybercrime Against Property: The cybercrimes against property is one which

is a notorious occurrence in the Nigerian cyberspace with acts such as

intellectual property crimes (software piracy, theft of computer source

code, infringement of copyright, patent, and trademark), cybersquatting,

and cyber vandalism, spreading of viruses, cyber trespass and hacking.

Cybercrimes Against the Society: Any unlawful act done with the intention of

causing harm to the cyberspace or society at large, the cyber space can be

used to carry out physical attacks on individuals and the society.

Youth: It is when a young person is young especially the time before a child

becomes an adult.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

2.1 Conceptual Clarification

There has been a great dispute among scholars and experts on just what

constitutes a cybercrime or a computer-related crime (Aldrich, 2010). A

universal agreed-upon definition of cybercrime does not exist. At the basic level

of analysis, there is no discernible control mechanism in place in so far as

terminology is concerned (McCusker, 2006). Thus, one might speak of

‘cybercrime’, ‘high tech crime’, ‘computer crime’, ‘technology crime’, ‘digital

crime’ and ‘IT crime’ and be discussing the same and/or different concepts,

respectively (McCusker, 2006). Consequently, the term ‘cybercrime’ has

rapidly become a generic descriptor for any online wrongdoing (whatever the

relative differences in complexity and seriousness) ranging from spam emails

and denial of service attacks to malware (McCusker, 2006). Also, it has become

especially common when dealing with computers to coin new words simply by

placing the word ‘cyber’ ‘computer’, or ‘information’ before another word

(Woimann, 2015). Thus, this has led to creation of confusion among the related

yet different concepts.

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 Nevertheless, cybercrime has been described as any activity in which

computers or networks are a tool, a target or a place of criminal activity

(ITU,2015). But the problem with this definition is that it is too broad. For

example, if one uses a keyboard to commit battery, it does not mean that a

cybercriminal act has been committed. Also, according to the National Crime

Prevention Council, cybercrime is any activity involving computers and

networks (NCPC, 2012). This definition is not very explicit because ‘any

activity’ could also include an activity that is legal.

Computer crime has also been referred to as a crime where a computer

system itself is the target (Clifford, 2001). This definition is too narrow. Some

cyber-crimes do not involve a computer system being the target of the

operation. Sometimes, the computer system could just be a mere instrument in

the commission of the crime. Another scholar (Ferrera, 2001) defines computer

crime as any violation of criminal law that involves knowledge of computer

technology for its perpetration, investigation, or prosecution. Knowledge of

computer technology is always but not necessarily needed for the commission

of computer crime. Crimes like child pornography do not necessarily require

knowledge of computer technology.

According to Hoar (2005), cybercrime is defined as a crime committed on

a computer network, especially the internet. Loader and Douglas (2001) also

opined that, cybercrimes are computer-mediated activities which are either

illegal or considered illicit by certain parties and which can be conducted

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through global electronic networks. This definition is quite flawed in the sense

that cybercrimes are not always conducted through global electronic networks.

Cybercrimes, like hacking, do not require global electronic networks for them to

be perpetrated.

Furthermore, it has been argued that cybercrimes can either be defined in

narrow terms or in broad terms. During the 10 th United Nations Congress on the

Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, two definitions in terms of

narrow and broad sense were developed. Cybercrime in a narrow sense was

defined as any illegal behaviour directed by means of electronic operations that

target the security of computer systems and the data processed by them. While

cybercrime in a broader sense (computer-related crimes) is any illegal behaviour

committed by means of, or in relation to, a computer system or network,

including such crimes as illegal possession and offering or distributing

information by means of a computer system or network (UNCPCTO, 2014).

The USA department of Justice in its Criminal Justice Resource Manual

defines computer related crime as ‘any illegal act for which knowledge of

computer technology is essential for successful prosecution. Aditya (2014) also

opines that cybercrime is crime that requires a computer, a network, and a

human interface.

Finnie (2010) defines cybercrime as any criminal offense that is committed

or facilitated through the use of the communication capabilities of computers

and computer systems. The IOSCO Research Department tentatively defines

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 cybercrime as a harmful activity, executed by one group (including both

grassroots groups or nationally coordinated groups) through computers, IT

systems and/or the internet and targeting the computers, IT infrastructure and

internet presence of another entity (ICSMS, 2013).

It is in the opinion of this researcher that cybercrime is synonymous with

computer crime and can be defined as the crime that is committed through a

computer or computer network or crime that is targeted towards a computer

system or data or a crime that is perpetrated through the use of a computer

network.

2.2 Empirical Review

In his work titled “Enhancing National Development and Growth through

Combating Cybercrime/ Internet Fraud”, Asokhia (2010) asserted that

cybercrime are prevalent the impact the television media play in the cyber-

crime rate cannot be over-emphasized. He opined that the youths are aware of

the uncensored video and radio programmes that evolve cybercrime by

portraying unexplainable wealth amongst teenagers as lifestyle.

Also, Adam (2008) in his study, “The impact of internet crime on

development”, concludes that the internet is overwhelmingly a powerful tool for

development. Paradoxically, the internet is a “double- edged sword”, providing

many opportunities for individuals and organizations to develop but at the same

time, has brought with it new opportunities to commit crime. He argues that the

internet presents new challenges to law enforcement in both development and

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 developing countries. However, developing countries suffer greatly from the

activities of internet crime more than their developed counterparts as developing

countries have inadequate technology, infrastructure and insufficient law

enforcement expertise.

When Ajayi (2006), examined cybercrime as a phenomenon that is

dysfunctional to the country, he concluded that evidence abound that is not only

the persons that are duped that suffer for this, the immediate family dependants

as well as the society where these victims are from, directly feel the effect of

this act. The perpetrators country, also suffers the image problem, even to the

extent of losing billions of naira, legitimate investment that is supposed to come

to the country. Hence, the companies that ought to have established and

employed the unemployed Nigerian cannot come to the country. Thus,

unemployment continues to rampage the country.

2.3 Literature Review

2.3.1 Causes of Cybercrimes

According to Hassan, Lass and Makinde (2012), the causes of cyber-

crimes include urbanization and negative role models. Okeshola and Adeta

(2013), opined that defective socialization, peer group influence, weak laws,

easy access to internet, poverty, etc. are the major causes of cybercrime in

Nigeria. However, Tade and Aliyu, (2011) identified the following as the causes

of cybercrime.

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1. Gullibility/greed of the victims: Generally, victims of cybercrimes are

usually greedy and gullible. Because of their greed, they make no inquiry

before venturing into transactions. This owing to the fact that, they want

to conceal and sit tide on a fortune changing transaction they just

discovered until they fall into the trap.

2. Lack of standards and national central control: According to

Emeruwa (2011), Nigeria is far from having adequate cyber security,

legislation and required standards which is posing a serious threat on e-

commerce. Cybercrime looms in Nigeria because of lack of standards

and national central control.

3. Lack of national functional database: Bio-metrics database is a

panacea for trailing fraudsters by having their past records on finger tips

and locating their movement with ease. This has been lacking in Nigeria

until recently that SIM cards registration and other forms of data base

from INEC, Road Safety, and NIMB are beginning to be put in place.

4. Porous nature of the internet: The Internet is free for all with no

identity and no passport needed. A scammer can con everybody with a

fake or hidden identity. In fact, anonymity has made the internet porous

and set the stage for anarchy, rancour and acrimony in the cyberspace.

5. Get rich quick syndrome: In Nigeria, there is so much emphasis on

materialism or wealth accumulation without necessarily working hard for

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 it. This get-rich-quick syndrome has kept the youths on their toes and

fuelled the current trends in cybercrime.

6. Lack of e-policing: Before now, it was ideal to equip a Police Officer

with uniform, notepad, batten or gun and teargas, but today all these

equipments cannot catch up with technological crimes. Nigeria lacks the

state of the art in combating cybercrime.

2.3.2 Types of Cybercrimes

There are different types of cybercrime committed in Nigeria and the

world over. Some of them are discussed as follows:

1. Auction fraud: This is the misrepresentation of a product advertised for

sale through an internet auction site, or the non-delivery of the products

purchased through an internet auction site. The seller posts the auction as

if he resides in the United States, then responds to victims with a

congratulatory email stating he is outside the United States for business

reasons, family emergency etc. They often post the auction under one

name, and ask for the funds to be transferred to another individual or

directly to him via Western Union, Money Gram or bank to bank wire

transfer. By using these services, the money is virtually unrecoverable

with no recourse for the victim (Ahmed, 2008).

2. Huckstering: This is a process of obtaining email address from the

internet access point using email harvesting software called web spiders

(such as email Extractor Lite 1.4) to send a large number of messages to

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 each harvested spam-trapped addresses and typical product-based spam

(i.e., Spam selling an actual product to be shipped or downloaded even if

the product itself is fraudulent).

3. Piracy: This is the act of illegally making access to people's soft copies

such as, books, games, movies and CDs or DVDs, etc and make copies of

same to disseminate for some gains which is usually financial gains,

(Longe & Longe, 2005). Example, the use of pirated Microsoft Windows

to install newly acquired computers; pirated home movies; and pirated

MP3 music installed in phones, iPads and other gadgets.

4. Hacking: This is the act of cracking firewalls or security codes with the

use of computers, laptops and sophisticated phones in order to gain access

to people bank accounts, data or any other profitable information.

5. Phishing/spoofing: This is the act of faking or forging digital

information or documents (Loftness, 2004). Spoofing/ phishing

specifically connotes the fraudulent acts of forging a website to make it

look like the original one to deceive persons having legitimate

transactions with such websites or the harvesting of people's e-mails, and

after consuming their contents, use same to defraud other people, who

somehow feels the information received is authentic.

6. Ponzi/pyramid: This is a kind of money doubling scam. It is usually

initiated as an investment for never to be receive profits. Because it a

bogus and attractive investment proposal, desperate individuals often fall

15
 victim. The victims of these scams neither receives dividends nor their

initial capital. Example, the 2009 money doubling scam in Calabar, Ikom

and Ogoja in Cross River State.

7. Nigeria letter or "419": This named after a section in the Nigerian

Criminal Code. 419 combines impersonation, obtaining by false pretence

or advance fee fraud. The major trick for this scam is calculated

persuasions. Victims are usually hooked with sensible persuasions after

the fraudsters have anticipated their thoughts for every step to be taken.

Victims who are charmed by these well added lies end up losing huge

sums of cash or divulging their credits cards numbers or Automated

Teller Machine pins.

8. Credit card fraud: This involves illegal or unauthorised use of people's

credit/debit cards to steal their money. Out of carelessness or negligence,

victims usually compromise their credit/debit cards numbers to

fraudsters, who actually get same from close observation or outright theft,

sometimes on gun point. In Nigeria, such numbers are obtained in ATM

withdrawal terminals or robbery at any location and pins are obtained on

gun point.

9. Identity theft: This is the act of impersonation for the purpose of

committing theft. Fraudsters usually fake the identity of individuals,

organisations or governments to dupe persons who have legitimate

businesses or transactions with such bodies. Victims are fooled through

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 internet or other social networks such as Facebook, skype, whatsapp,

blackberry pinging, etc

10.Escrow service fraud: This is the act of creating a fraudulent or wary

auction site to loot people's money. It is a decoy site fraudulently created

to deceive people who may not have noticed or observed carefully that it

only resembles the true one. Such uncareful individuals are usually

victims of escrow service fraud.

11.Trojan attacks: This term comes from the word "Trojan horse" which

means an unauthorised programme, which passively gains control over

another person's system by representing itself as an authorised

programme. The most common form of installing a Trojan is through

email (Pati, 2003).

12.Caller ID spoofing: This is the process whereby the new technologies

associated with VOIP allow callers to lie about their identity while

making call and present false names and numbers such that the person

can hide his identity that would make "private" to appear on the phone or

computer screen. This is done with an intention to defraud or harass

other people (Gantz and Rochester, 2005).

13.Cyber terrorism: This is the process of launching computer-based attack

against computers, phones, networks and the information stored on them.

Cyber terrorism is an act of terrorism committed through the use of

Cyberspace or computer resources.

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14.Email bombing: This refers to the sending of a large number of emails to

a victim, which results in the victim's email account (in case of an

individual) or mail servers (in case of a company or an email service

provider) crashing.

15.Cyber stalking: It is the act of sending threatening mails or text

messages to a particular individual, group or organisation by a cyber-

criminal. It also refers to the act of harassing and intimidating or

molesting persons through the use of ICT inventions.

16.Virus-dissemination: This is the act of fraudulently writing or

developing a dangerous computer program and distribute same in the

cyberspace to infect computers, phones and other devices data all over the

world. A virus is mostly developed by mischievous persons or those

desperate for wealth accumulation from the monies that will accrue from

the sale of anti-viruses. Viruses are capable of altering or destroying the

entire memory of a device which could amount to huge financial lost. For

instance, a virus such as ''love bug'' when circulated was able to infect

about 5% of computers around the globe, and it amounted to a financial

loss of about $10million (Pati, 2003). In 1988, Robert Morris was behind

the release of the most dangerous internet virus in the world which almost

abruptly ended the advancement of the internet. In Calabar Metropolis,

there are viruses such as Carribea and Comb Warrior (Gantz and

Rochester, 2005).

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17.Data dadding: This is a kind of attack which involves altering raw data

just before it is processed by a computer and then changing it back after

the processing is completed.

18.Salami attacks: These attacks are prevalent in the financial institutions.

It is an alteration that is so insignificantly made such that in a single case

it would go normally unnoticed. For instance, Salami Attack occurs

where a bank employee inserts a program such as 'logic bomb' into the

bank servers, that deducts small amount of money from the account of

every customer and deposits it in another account opened and owned by

the staff but with a different account name.

19.Internet time thefts: This is the act of manipulating or circumventing

servers of network service providers in order to hack their passwords and

gain login access. Fraudsters usually steal airtime from Internet Service

Providers or GSM service providers, like the case that affected MTN

Nigeria sometime in February 2009.

20.Web jacking: This is the process of fraudulently gaining access into

individual's, corporate organisation or government websites or e-mails

and completely taking charge or control of it. This is done by breaking

through the passwords and other unique features, and editing same

whereby the original owner may not be able to gain access again.

21.Phone phishing: Phishing attack also extends to phones such that

messages claimed to come from a bank may tell users to dial a phone

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 number regarding problems with their bank accounts (TACN, 2022).

Once the number (owned by the phisher, and provided by a voice over IP

Service) has been dialled, prompts would tell users to enter their account

numbers and Personal Identification Number (PIN) which the Phisher

would use in defrauding the victim.

22.Pornography: This is the act of using ICT gadgets to illegally publish

pornographic images, or the use of internet to download pornographic

contents illegally. Most people still have the understanding that

pornography does not amount to crime, but they forget to know that most

pornographic images are illegally produced, and so everybody benefitting

from such content is a criminal, while those less than 18years are

delinquents.

23.Sale of illegal articles: This is the process of selling contrabands or

illegal products such as hard drugs or weapons of mass destruction

through the use of internet websites, e-mails, short message services and

other means of digital communication.

24.Employment/business opportunity fraud: On the Internet different

websites and most often ‘pop-ups’ on web pages have been design to

advertise lucrative employment opportunities and businesses with the aim

of defrauding unemployed persons.

25.Forgery: This is the act of counterfeiting an original document, made

possible and easy by the emergence of information and communication

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 technology. It is the act of faking an original money note or coin, or any

other document to make it look similar or almost the same as the legal or

original one. In Nigeria, there are a lot of forged certificates and naira

notes.

26.Cyber defamation: Character defamation as crime has also migrated

from the verbal physical world into the digital world. This is an act of

making mails, faxes, text messages, etc, slaying somebody's character and

distributing same to acquaintances of the target victim. This usually done

for some selfish and fringe benefits.

27.Cyber theft: Any form of criminal activity that involves the use of

information and communication technology is called cyber theft. Cyber

theft is synonymous to cybercrime except that it is narrowed to issues that

are outright theft such as, embezzlement with the use of ICT, stealing

people's passwords and pins or hacking.

28.Cyber laundering: This is the process of illegally transferring monies or

currencies with the use of ICT. This is usually done by fraudsters with the

intention of concealing the source and destination of these money or

currencies. It is a common form of cyber criminality in Nigeria, where

corrupt government or public officials cyber launder stolen money to

other parts of the world in order to avert the wrath of EFCC and ICPC.

29.Key logging: This is the act of using a particular software called key

logger to stroke someone's computer keyboard in order to digitally

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 monitor the activities taking place on that computer, and capitalizing on

such information to defraud the computer owner.

30.Spam message: This are fake messages or e-mails directed at harvested

e-mails or random numbers with persuading and attractive contents aimed

at defrauding unsuspecting victims.

31.Malware: Malware short for malicious software, (sometimes referred to

as pest ware) is a software designed to secretly access a computer system

without the consent of the owner.

32.Lotteries fraud: Some corporate organizations in Nigeria garner millions

of viewers to send text messages or to call in answers to a displayed

question on TV or answer a question through SMS. The amount charged

for such calls or text message (SMS) from the viewers amount to millions

of Naira while the amount to be won might just be N10,000.00.

33.Phreaking: This type of crime involves the theft of telecommunication

services, instances of which have involved using cereal box toy whistles

to imitate telephone call signals, and more recently cloning mobile SIM

cards. Many homes in Nigeria are now connected to DSTV products

through a self-made cord, which when attached to a video player, has the

capability of connecting to several statements in DSTV television.

2.4 Theoretical Framework

This research examines the causes and prevention of cyber-crime amongst

the youths, and it falls within the self-perception theory. The self-perception
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theory is an account of attitude change developed by psychologist Dary Bem. It

asserts that people develop their attitudes by observing their behaviour and

concluding what attitudes must have caused them. The theory is counterintuitive

in nature, as the conventional wisdom is that attitude comes prior to behaviours.

Furthermore, the theory suggests that a person induces attitudes without

accessing internal cognition and mood states. The person reasons their own

overt behaviours rationally in the same way they attempt to explain others’

behaviours.

The issue of perception or image is so complex that it has to be analysed

within a fitting theoretical framework. This is so because there is a strong

likelihood that individuals have different perceptions of objects.

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 CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
The arrangement of conditions for the collection and analysis of data in a

manner that aims to combine relevance to a research purpose, is what is known

as research methods. As Bangbose (1990) posits, the validity of the research

findings depends to a large extent on the method used in collecting the data as

well as the system of analysis. This inevitably puts it that methodology is what

provides a detailed account of the methods used in the collection of data, why

these methods were chosen, where the data was obtained, and how they were

analysed. Thus, this chapter relates the methodology adopted for this research

(i.e., Causes and Prevention of Cyber-Crime in Suleja). In carrying out analysis

of this study, the survey design was adopted.

3.2 Research Design

Research design, according to Baridam (1990), is a plan of study guiding
the researcher in seeking answers to research operations. Thus, in conducting
this study, the survey research design was employed using the descriptive
research design.
3.3 Methodology

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 Research method is a systematic way of producing knowledge through

which findings of a subject are either accepted or rejected.

The research method used for this study was the survey method. This

method was considered most appropriate because it is a method involving the

search for opinions.

3.4 Area of the Study

Niger State was created by the Late Head of State General Murtala Ramat

Mohammed on 3rd February, 1976 from the defunct North-Western State of

Nigeria with eight Local Government Areas. The State presently has twenty-

five Local Government Area including Suleja L.G.A. It was established by the

Local Government reform of 1976 from the defunct Abuja native authority.

Suleja lies between Latitude 9º12′1.17″ N and Longitude 7º10′20.25″ E of

WGS84. It shares boundary with Gurara to the North-West, Tafa to the East in

Niger State and Gwagwalada, Zuba to the south, in Federal Capital Territory.

Suleja is about 20km North of Abuja the Federal Capital of Nigeria and about

100km North East of Minna the State Capital of Niger State. (Aminu, et al.,

2018).

It has ten (10) Wards within the Local Government Area namely; Bagama

‘A’, .Bagama ‘B’, Magajiya, Iku South I, Iku South II, Hashimi ‘A’, Hashimi

‘B’, Maje, Kurmin Sarki and Wambai and according to the 2006 provisional

population census, Suleja Local Government has a population of 216,578,

25
 covering a land mass area of 118,910 km2 with 2,142 Density/ km2 (Aminu, et

al., 2018).

3.5 Population of the Study

According to Akinyele (2016), “target population is that of an entire group

that can be generalized”. The target population in this research refers to the

youths of Suleja, Niger state.

A survey of the youths of Suleja formed the sources where information

was obtained as it relates to the area of the problem of this research i.e.,

Prevention and Causes of Cyber-Crime in Suleja. The population, 216,578, of

the area formed the population of the study.

3.6 Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The data used the course of this research was collected via primary data

collection of data method. The data from the sources were collected from the

questionnaires designed by the researcher.

In order to get the sample size for the study, the Taro Yamane formular

was used. Taro Yamane is presented as follows:

N
n= 2
1+ N ( e )
Where; n=sample size, e=entire population and N=population of the study

26
 Using the appropriate formular above to get a benefitting sample size to

ensure that the population of the study is adequately presented. Based on this

established data[n] was computed thus;

27
 n=
[ 216578
1+ 216578 ( 0.052 ) ] /2

n=¿]/2

n=

n=
[ 216578
1+ 541.44 ]
/2

which implies that;

216578
n=[ ]/2
542.44

399.27
n=
2

n=199.6

n=200

Therefore, the sample size to be used in the questionnaire is 200.

3.7 Data Collection Technique

A total of two hundred (200) copies of questionnaire was administered to

the selected respondents in Suleja. The researcher used the direct contact

approach i.e., meeting the respondents. This was to help minimize the

percentage of distraction, unnecessary delays, and to finally help to ensure an

unbiased outcome of the study.

3.8 Data Analysis Technique

28
 The major techniques that will be used in data analysis shall be the chi-

square (Χ2) statistical analysis, which is aimed at establishing any significant

difference that might exist among respondent’s frequencies. Chi-square is a

non-parametric statistical tool which can conveniently be used in testing

hypotheses when dealing with contented data. Chi-square formular is presented

as follows:

2 Σ(0−e )2
Χ = 2
e

Where; Χ 2 = Chi-square, Σ = Summation, O = Observed Frequency and e =

Expected Frequency.

3.9 Validity and Reliability of Research

The research instruments were developed by the researcher. The

instruments were handed over to test experts for corrections. The validity of the

instruments was ascertained through this process.

29
 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter is aimed at presenting and analysing the data collected during

the course of this research study. Data was obtained from the properly filled and

returned questionnaire with respect to the research topic “Causes and

Prevention of Cyber-Crimes in Suleja Niger State”.

4.2 Data Presentation and Analysis

Table 4.1: Socio-Demographic Data of Respondents

Variables/categories Categories Frequency Percentage

Age 41 years and 11 9.2

above
31 - 40 years 29 24.2

21 - 30 years 38 31.2

Below 20 years 42 35.0

Total 120 100.0

Gender Female 44 36.7

Male 76 63.3
Total 120 100.0
Source: Field Study, 2022.

Table 4.1 above present the responses of respondents’ base on their

demographic variables. Majority of the respondents (35.0%, N = 42) were

below the 20 years, those between the ages of 21 – 30years representing

(31.2%, N = 38), those in the age bracket of 31-40 years were 24.2% (N = 29),

30
 while the least group were those at 41 years and above representing 9.2% (N =

11).

The compartmentalization of respondents in terms of gender shows that

majority of the respondents 63.3% (N = 76) were males, while 36.7% (N = 44)

were females. This is likely associated with the fact that, in Nigeria males seems

to be more interested in cyber activities than their female counterparts.

Table 4.2: Causes of Cyber-Crimes in Suleja, Niger state.

Source: Field Study, 2022.
s/n Statement SA A D SD

1 Unemployment 24 (6.3) 307 50 (13.0) 3 (0.8)

(79.9)

2 Poverty 37 (9.6) 290 45 (11.7) 12 (3.1)

(75.5)

3 Societal emphasis on materialism (wealth 48 264 41 (10.7) 31 (8.1)

accumulation) (12.5) (68.8)

4 Lack of e-policing in Nigeria 6 (1.6) 285 62 (16.1) 31 (8.1)

(74.2)

5 Corruption 8 (2.1) 335 29 (7.6) 12 (3.1)

(87.2)

6 Greed of the victims 33 (8.6) 284 50 (13.0) 17 (4.4)

(74.0)

7 Lack of standards & national central control 9 (2.3) 286 63 (16.4) 26 (6.8)
(74.5)

8 Lack of national functional database 42 194 117 31 (8.1)

(10.9) (50.5) (30.5)

9 Porous nature of the internet 41 213 94 (24.5) 36 (9.3)

(10.7) (55.5)

10 Contact with yahoo boys 14 (3.6) 19 (5.0) 222 129

(57.8) (33.6)

*The number of responses to each item are as indicated while percentages are

written in parenthesis.

31
 Table 4.2 shows the responses of respondents to causes of cybercrime with

four points Likert Scale format of either “Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree or

Strongly Disagree”. As revealed in the table, majority of the respondents

indicated that they either strongly agreed or agreed to 9 causes of cybercrime,

such as, unemployment, poverty, societal emphasis on materialism, lack of e-

policing, corruption, greed of the victims, lack of standard & national central

control, Lack of national functional database and the porous nature of the

internet. while majority of the respondents either disagreed or strongly

disagreed to ''contact with yahoo boys'' as a cause of cybercrime in south-south

higher institutions.

Table 4.3: Types of Cyber-Crimes Prevalent in Suleja, Niger state.

Type of crime Frequency Percentage Ranking

Fake messages 52 43.3 1st

Lotteries fraud 19 15.8 2nd
Piracy 9 7.5 4th
Employment opportunity fraud 7 5.8 5th
Cyber prostitution 6 5 6th
Hacking 3 2.5 8th
Virus dissemination 3 2.5 8th
Phishing 15 12.5 3rd
Pornography 2 1.7 10th
Cyber stalking 4 3.3 7th

Total 120 100.0

Source: Field Study, 2022.

32
 The rating of responses presented in table 3 shows the judgement of

respondents in respect to the types of cybercrimes prevalent in Suleja, Niger

state. It can be seen that 43.3 percent of the respondents (N = 52) ranked fake

message as first, 15.8 percent (N = 19) ranked Lotteries fraud as second, 12.5

percent (N = 15) ranked Phishing as third, 7.5 percent (N = 9) ranked Piracy as

fourth, 5.8 percent (N = 7) ranked Employment Opportunity Fraud as fifth, 5

percent (N = 6) ranked Cyber-Prostitution as sixth, 3.3 percent (N = 7) ranked

Cyber-Stalking as seventh, 3 percent (N = 3) ranked Virus Dissemination as

well as Hacking as eighth, 2.6 percent (N = 10) ranked Phishing as the ninth,

1.7 percent (N = 2) ranked Pornography as tenth prevalent type of cybercrime in

the study area. This means that scam/fake messages (email and sms) is the

commonest type of cybercrime while pornography is the least perpetrated types

of cybercrimes in Suleja, Niger state.

Table 4.4: Likely victims of cybercrimes

S/N Likely victims of cybercrime: SA A D SD

1 The Naive/Gullible 28 (23.3) 307 59 (15.4) 8 (2.1)

(79.9)

2 Desperados (for money or wealth) 57 (47.5) 293 48 (12.5) 6 (1.6)

(76.3)

3 The inexperienced 20 (16.7) 308 49 (12.8) 7 (1.8)

(80.2)

4 Unlucky people 15(12.5) 200(52.1) 42(10.9) 22(5.7)

SOURCE: Field Study, 2022.

Note: The number of responses to each item are as indicted while percentages

are written in parenthesis.

33
 Table 4.4 shows the responses of respondents to likely victims of

cybercrime with four points Likert Scale of either “Strongly Agree, Agree,

Disagree or Strongly Disagree”. As revealed in the table, majority of the

respondents indicated that they either strongly agreed or agreed to all the

categories of cybercrime likely victims such as, the naive/gullible, desperados,

the inexperienced and unlucky people.

4.3 Test of Hypothesis

Using the formula below, we calculate the expected Frequency, E.

E = Row total x Column total

Overall total

While the Chi-square formula used is;

Where: x 2 = Chi-square, Oi = Observed frequency and Ei= Expected

frequency.

Thus, the calculated Chi-square is as depicted in the tables below.

Table 4.3.1: Chi-Square Analysis of Causes and Prevention of Cybercrime in

Suleja, Niger state variables.
S/N Yes No TOTAL DF X2-Cal X2-Crit. Level of Decision
sign.
1. 79 31 120
2. 80 40 120
3 85 45 120 4 12.020 3.840 0.05 Rejected
4 71 49 120
5. 88 32 120
Tota 305 195 500
l
Source: Field Study (2022).

34
 The table above revealed that the X2 calculated value of 12.020 is higher

than the X2 critical value of 3.840 at 0.05 level of significance. The null

hypothesis is therefore rejected. This implies that there is a significant

indulgence of cybercrimes in Suleja, Niger state.

Table 4.3: Chi- Square Statistical Test Result for the Hypothesis.

Variables (O) (E) O-E (O-E)2 ¿¿

Yes 35 20.125 14.875 221.27 10.99

No 85 36.125 48.875 2388.76 66.12
Total 120 56.25 63.75 2610.03 à77.11
Source: Field Study (2022).

Thus, the calculated chi-square value is 77.11.

The degree of freedom (df) = (R-1) (C-1) = (2-1) (2-1) = (1) (1) =1°

From the table above, the calculated Chi-square (X 2cal) value is 77.11

while the tabulated Chi-square value (X2tab) is 3.84 at 1° of freedom and 0.05

(i.e., 95%) level of significance.

Decision: since the calculated Chi-square (X2cal) value, 77.11, is greater than

tabulated Chi-square (X2tab) value of 3.84, we accept the alternative hypothesis

(H1) and reject the null hypothesis. Hence, there is a significant indulgence and

prevalence of cybercrime in Suleja, Niger state.

4.4 Research Findings

From the data analysis above, it can be seen that there is significant

cybercrime in Suleja, Niger state.

35
 The findings of this study identified various causes of cybercrimes peculiar

to in Suleja, Niger state as, porous nature of the internet, lack of national

functional database, greed of victims, lack of standards & national central

control, corruption, lack of e-policing in Nigeria, poverty, unemployment and

societal emphasis on materialism. Amongst these, corruption is the most

causative factor, followed closely by unemployment, poverty, greed of the

victims and societal emphasis on materialism. The findings therefore affirmed

what Tade and Aliyu, (2011) identified as causes of cybercrimes in Nigeria.

Furthermore, the study revealed the different types of cybercrimes that

exist in Suleja, Niger state to include, fake/scam messages, cyber stalking,

piracy, hacking, phishing/spoofing, Nigerian letter or 419, ATM card fraud,

virus dissemination, pornography, cyber prostitution, employment/ business

opportunity fraud, and lotteries fraud. Amongst these types, scam/spam or fake

messages is the commonest form of cyber criminality in Suleja, Niger state,

followed by lotteries fraud, piracy and employment/business opportunity fraud.

While pornography and cyber stalking are the least perpetrated cybercrimes.

The study also revealed that the likely victims of cybercrimes are the

naive/gullible, desperados, the inexperienced and the unlucky people. The result

shows that, the unlucky people are the most likely victims of cybercrimes

followed by the desperados, the inexperienced and lastly the naive/gullible.

36
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

The study identified various causes of cybercrimes in Suleja Niger State

with corruption as the most causative factor. It also revealed the different types

of cybercrimes that exist in the area, and identified scam/fake messages as the

commonest form of cyber criminality in these institutions, while pornography

and cyber stalking are the least perpetrated cybercrimes.

The study also identified porous nature of the internet, lack of national

central control and functional database, and lack e-policing as the causes of

cybercrimes in Suleja Niger State. This situation has made youths and other

perpetrators of cybercrimes to see the internet as a suitable targets where there

are millions of potential victims. In the absence of appropriate cyber security,

cybercrimes becomes a good venture to make ends meet for scammers. Again,

the students are readily available as motivated offenders because they are poor,

unemployed and wants to accumulate wealth by all means.

5.2 Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study, corruption, unemployment and poverty

are the most causative factors of cybercrimes in Suleja Niger State. This may

not be too surprising as these factors often make news headlines as social

problems affecting Nigeria as a country. Over the years, government effort in

37
 tackling corruption, poverty and unemployment could be seen as lips service

because the problems had continued to deepened under successive governments.

Anti-craft agencies established to combat corruption such as the Economic and

Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices

Commission (ICPC) have never lived up to their billings. This is because their

operations metaphorically sees laws as cob-webs where the big flies passes

through and the small ones are caught. Top corrupt government officials and

public office holders embezzle and loot public funds without being brought to

book unless those in bad light of the powers that be. This is evident in their fleet

of cars, private jets and sky scrapers homes/businesses. Youths learning from

their suppose role models equally want to amassed wealth through any

fraudulent means such as cyber criminality, and of course, ICT has provided a

platform for them to carry out their nefarious acts.

Even though, cybercrime is a menace that is not prevalent in Suleja Niger

State alone, but the entire Nigerian State and the World over, concerted effort

have to be put in place to ensure a safe, secure and trustworthy ICT

environment. It is therefore crucial for the suggestions of this study to be

followed vehemently in order to curb cyber criminality in our society.

5.3 Recommendations

In accordance with the findings of this study, the following

recommendations are put forward to curb the menace of cybercrime in our

society;
38
1. Corruption should be curbed in order to limit the quest for massive wealth

accumulation which have driven youths into cyber criminality in Nigeria.

2. Government should intensify effort in addressing the problem of

unemployment and commit highly ICT competent youths into gainful

ventures.

3. Managements of higher institutions in Nigeria should offer student

scholarship to ICT competent students at all levels.

4. Government should design programmes that will help to rehabilitate,

reorient and streamline the training needs and facilities of our law

enforcement agents on ICT skills and e-policing.

5. Nigeria should have a functional national database and national central

control with bio-data of every citizen and immigrants in order to trace

outlaws on cyberspace.

39
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46
 APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

National Open University of Nigeria,

Abuja

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department of Criminology

Dear Respondent,

My names are Mahmoud Muhammad Abdullazeez and I am a student of

the above-named institution conducting a study on “Causes and Prevention of

Cyber-Crime in Suleja, Niger State”.

I will be very grateful if you will kindly supply answers to the under

listed questions to the best of your ability as are applied to you.

All information given by you will strictly be used for academic purposes

and will be treated confidentially. Options are given for each question and you

are to indicate your choice of answer with a tick [] mark, as is applied to your

response.

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

47
 SECTION A (PERSONAL DATA)

1. Gender

a. Male [ ]

b. Female [ ]

2. Age:

a. 18-25 [ ]

b. 26-40 [ ]

c. 41-60 [ ]

SECTION B (THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS)

What is your perception of the level of cybercrime in Nigeria?

High [ ] Moderate [ ] Low [ ]

What are the reasons for cybercrime in Nigeria?

S/N Statements SD D A SA
1 Poor cyber security
2 Poverty
3 economic hardship
4 corruption in the system
5 high unemployment rate
6 Greediness
7 lack of self-control
8 poor societal and moral values

How can the government curb cybercrime in Nigeria?

S/ Statements SD D A SA
N
1 by improving the economic condition of the masses
2 by poverty reduction
3 equipping the law enforcement agencies for effectiveness
4 by reducing the level of corruption in the system
5 by creating more jobs

48
 6 value reorientation
7 ensuring cyber security

Thank you.

49