The Federal Government has been urged to conducted survey on child online abuses in the country, to check its enormity.

The call was made by the pioneer Lagos branch secretary, Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), Mr. Remmy Nweke, in a paper entitled “Nigerian Students, Technology Education and Cyber Crime” to mark the 2018 World Safer Internet Day (WSID) event organised by the International Centre for Leadership Development Nigeria (ICLDNg) at Itolo Girl’s Senior Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos.

Mr. Nweke, who also is the Lead Strategist and Group Executive Editor, DigitalSENSE Africa Media group, said the survey has become pertinent to help evaluate the enormity of child online abuses in the country, especially since the boom in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country have been unprecedented.

According to him, the Federal Government can urgently facilitate this survey via collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to quantity the crime, in addition to introducing a dedicated toll-free number to this cause.

Nweke, the award-winning author of “A Decade of ICT Reportage”, also called for the establishment of a Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOPC) portal, to aid reporting of child online abuses over the world wide web (www).

While urging students to always exhibit positive confidence whenever online and ready to share only content they are sure of, Mr. Nweke advised parents to take special interest and care on what their children do mostly online.

“This is very key to safety of children online, while they must stick to Closed User Group (CUG), so as to stay safe and share beneficial information,” Nweke said. He enjoining children who wish to use social media applications (apps) to ensure those have user content control or user setting options like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook to name a few.

“Apply discipline in the use of social media and focus on your education first,” he advised the students selected from various schools in Lagos State.

Nweke underscored some social media techniques for students to be wary of, comprising the use of use strong password, saying that the “longer it is, the more secure it will be.”

He advocated for the use of a different password for each social media accounts stressing the need to set up security answers where applicable.

“The two-factor authentication is available for most social media sites. And if you have social media apps on your phone, be sure to password and protect your device,” he counselled, pointing out that they should be selective with friend requests.

Nweke cautioned: “If you don’t know the person, don’t accept their request. It could be a fake account.” He further advised the participants, including teachers, to ensure that they click links with caution due to frequency with which social media accounts are being hacked, especially by looking out for language or content that does not sound like something their friends would post.

Nweke’s session witnessed some panelists including Mrs. Treasures Uchegbu, Taiwo Fashola, Programme Coordinator, Center for African Renaissance and Development (CEFARRD), Uchechi Chukwuma and officials of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) led by Murtala Ariyo, among others.

Some of the dignitaries at the event included the Lagos State Director, Special Duties, Education District 4, Mr. J.O. Oshodi; Principal, Itolo Girls Senbior Secondary School, Mrs. Olawepo; Chief Operating Officer, ICLDNG, Adedeji Adedoyin; and the Executive Director, ICLDNG, Mr. Felix Iziomoh.

The global theme for the 2018 World Safer Internet Day is theme of “Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you”.

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