NiRA receives 300 complaints on Internet abuse, solicits LEA aid

The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) said it has already received 300 complaints on various issues of Internet Abuse, including Domain Name Abuses to theft of individuals’ personal details and Financial Fraud after two weeks after the Association unveiled the establishment of Law Enforcement Desk (LED) to handle such complaints.

Commenting on this development which culminated in the establishment of the Desk, Sunday Folayan, president of NiRA said that “Nigerians are being defrauded by various forms of internet fraudsters”.

The Association in the last edition of the NiRA e-newsletter, stated that NiRA had taken concrete steps to deal with the menace of abuse within the Internet ecosystem, by creating a desk for dealing with Internet Abuse within the .ng ecosystem.

“Nigerians have responded positively with varied tales. NIRA has commenced investigations into those cases within its purview,” Folayan said in the latest NiRA e-newsletter.

Folayan disclosed that NiRA has convened a meeting of representatives of relevant law enforcement agencies (LEA) and stakeholders on the need to collaborate to curtail the menace.

“Agencies represented include the Nigeria Police through the Lagos State Police Command, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Special Fraud Unit, ngCERT, Central Bank of Nigeria Plc, etc.

“At the inaugural meeting, The NiRA President highlighted the high rate at which crimes were becoming engrained in the national life, using .ng domain names and reported that NiRA had received over 300 complaints on issues of Internet Abuse ranging from Domain Name Abuses to theft of individuals’ personal details and of course, financial fraud.

“Participants reviewed the Internal Procedural process developed in-house by NiRA to deal with the incidents of abuses, taking note of the areas of cooperation and collaboration with the various agencies present. It was a huge success as the law enforcement agencies expressed their willingness to collaborate to tackle the identified abuse in the Internet ecosystem and protect Nigerians.

“Henceforth, the group will meet quarterly, having identified other stakeholders whose involvement is crucial to the success of the programme”, he said urging those privy to any form of abuse using .ng domain names, “do send your email to abuse@nira.org.ng,” NiRA e-newsletter added.