The Nigeria Police has issued a cautionary warning to citizens, particularly the youth, urging vigilance when using dating apps.
News About Nigeria reports that the advisory came from Uche Henry, the Director of the National Cybercrime Centre, during an event addressing cyber-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence in Abuja on Monday.
Henry highlighted the surge in reports concerning cybercrime victims and implored the need for caution.
According to him, the police have implemented strategies to combat cybercrime and sextortion, leading to notable successes.
“We started having lots of victims from Nigeria coming to report about being victims of cybercrime and sextortion. So, we channeled our attention on how to curb this menace, which we are actually doing a lot and recorded a lot of successes,” Henry said.
He stressed the importance of vigilance on dating apps, cautioning users about scammers who may impersonate individuals and, after gaining trust, resort to extortion and solicitation of explicit content.
“When you are visiting dating apps one needs to be very careful because some of them pretend to be ladies and girls, and when they gain your confidence, they start extorting, asking for your nude pictures,” Henry cautioned.
The Executive Director of Sustainable Gender Action Initiative (SGAI), Mufuliat Fijabi, highlighted the event’s objective: to educate youths on issues related to cyber-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence (CFSGBV).
Fijabi emphasised the importance of advocating against such violence in cyberspace, underscoring its potential to lead to mental health issues, social withdrawal, and career challenges.
“We want a situation where more youths, more parents, stakeholders, and people tap into the need to continue to advocate against the occurrence of this kind of violence in cyberspace. The violence sometimes leads to mental issues, withdrawal, and career, among others,” he said.
