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Nigeria’s approach to combating cybercrime needs a major rethink as criminals increasingly exploit artificial intelligence, deepfakes and other emerging technologies to make digital offences more sophisticated, justice-sector stakeholders have warned.
The call followed a specialised four-day training on Cybercrime, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Evidence organised for members of the Joint Case Team on Cybercrime (JCTC) and designated Federal High Court judges in Lagos.
Participants said Nigeria must strengthen its digital-evidence systems, improve cooperation among security and justice institutions and continuously upgrade the skills of investigators, prosecutors and judges to keep pace with rapidly changing cyber threats.
Cybercrime Moves Beyond Traditional Hacking
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, said cybercrime has evolved considerably beyond conventional hacking and online fraud.
He identified emerging threats including AI-assisted crimes, deepfakes, voice cloning, ransomware, cryptocurrency-enabled offences, identity theft and sophisticated transnational cyber networks.
According to Oyedepo, criminals are adapting faster, making it necessary for Nigeria’s response to become more intelligence-driven, coordinated and forward-looking.
He also stressed that cybercrime cannot be effectively addressed by individual institutions operating independently because modern investigations frequently involve multiple agencies and cross-border cooperation.
Stronger Digital Evidence Needed
The training placed considerable emphasis on the collection, preservation and presentation of electronic evidence.
Participants examined how digital evidence obtained from mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices can be properly recovered and presented during criminal proceedings.
Oyedepo said the programme had strengthened participants’ ability to identify warning signs, conduct investigations and build stronger cases for prosecution.
However, he identified inter-agency rivalry and delays in international cooperation as continuing obstacles to effective cybercrime investigations and prosecutions.
He said stronger teamwork among investigators, prosecutors, regulators and forensic specialists would be necessary to close those gaps.
Judiciary’s Role Comes Under Focus
The inclusion of Federal High Court judges in the programme was described as important because cybercrime investigations ultimately have to withstand judicial scrutiny.
Participants were able to examine some of the challenges that can arise when investigators attempt to present technology-related evidence in court.
CSP Samuel Umezurike of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, Abuja, said the training provided practical exposure to areas including AI-generated crimes, voice cloning and cybercrime investigations.
He added that discussions with judges helped investigators better understand weaknesses that can affect the presentation of cases during prosecution.
International Cooperation Becomes Critical
The need for stronger international collaboration also featured prominently during the training.
Markko Künnapu, a cybercrime and electronic-evidence expert from Estonia, identified rapid access to electronic evidence as one of the major challenges confronting cybercrime investigators worldwide.
He encouraged Nigeria to strengthen cooperation through existing legal instruments and partnerships with foreign governments and technology service providers.
The international dimension is increasingly important because cybercriminal networks can operate across several jurisdictions, making purely domestic investigations insufficient for many cases.
Technology Also Fuels Other Digital Crimes
The training also examined how emerging technologies are being exploited in other forms of criminal activity.
Matthias Esene, Project Manager of the ICMPD TIP-VAP Project, said traffickers were increasingly using digital platforms, encrypted communications, social media and artificial intelligence in their activities.
He said improving the capabilities of the JCTC would strengthen Nigeria’s ability to respond to technology-enabled trafficking in persons through its collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Justice Sector Calls for Collective Action
Jamila Akaaga-Ade, Deputy Director and Head of the Cybercrimes Unit at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Head of the JCTC, said collective action must remain at the centre of Nigeria’s cybercrime response.
She argued that effective international cooperation would be difficult to achieve without strong collaboration among Nigerian institutions first.
Her position reflects a broader concern raised during the training: that fragmented responses can create gaps that increasingly sophisticated criminals are able to exploit.
Building a Future-Ready Response
The discussions come as artificial intelligence continues to change the cybercrime landscape, giving criminals new tools for deception and allowing some attacks to become faster and more difficult to detect.
For Nigeria, stakeholders said the response must therefore extend beyond traditional enforcement methods.
That means strengthening digital-evidence management, reducing institutional barriers, improving international cooperation and ensuring that investigators, prosecutors, forensic experts and judges receive regular training.
The message from the training was clear: as cybercriminals adopt increasingly sophisticated technologies, Nigeria’s justice and security institutions must evolve at the same pace if the country is to protect its digital ecosystem and successfully prosecute technology-enabled offences.
