Nigerians are divided over the plans of the government through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to legalize and regulate interception of communication in Nigeria. In what is fast becoming an annually discussed subject, the NCC yet again made public its intention to allow law enforcement officers to tap phone calls and other means of communication.
The plan first leaked in 2013 when media reports revealed that NCC planned to introduce lawful interception, a legally sanctioned official access to private communications such as telephone calls, email messages, all in a bid to enhance national security. Apparently, this is a move to aid security agencies access information that would increase their success in stopping terrorism and crime.
But there were outcries about the move’s appearance as an infringement of personal freedoms and privacy. Also it was seen that such level of access to individual information could be abused. It died a natural death and no one talked about it… until the next year, 2014.
Last August at a special edition of Consumer Outreach, NCC itself said security agencies will soon commence monitoring of all calls to enhance their operational activities in Nigeria. It revealed plans were in the offing to come up with a guideline that will guide the take-off of the plan in such a way that no subscriber’s right or privacy would be breached in the process. There were also series of reaction and condemnations for the project. It gradually fizzled out and no one said anything again about it until this week when the commission disclosed it is finalizing regulatory and legal frameworks for thee takeoff of the project.
Unlike before, many Nigerians believe the commission is very serious about it this time. As a matter of fact, it has opened public hearing on the new regulation aimed at authorizing the lawful interception of calls made on networks by security officials.
At the public hearing, stakeholders said such regulation must pass through the legislative process to ensure it does not invalidate rights guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution. In his remark at the public hearing, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr Eugene Juwah, said the forum was part of the rule-making process.
According to Juwah, the NCC is certain that the regulations will provide the guiding standards and principles for an effective regime on lawful interception of communications and licensing in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.
“This also represents another effort by the commission towards ensuring that the standards in the industry reflect international best practices while taking into consideration our local circumstances,” he said.
When the regulation comes into force, it will provide the framework for authorized security officials to intercept calls or messages that they have reasons to believe put the lives of individuals or security of a community at a risk
Many Nigerians see the proposal as a good-and-bad conundrum. Concerned citizens however believe the commission does not have enough legal backing to enact such law.
“It is doubtful if any government agency has the power to make this type of laws because it would encroach on the privacy of the citizens. Only the National Assembly can pass such far reaching laws, and it would only be in extreme circumstances,” one observer, Sunny Lulu, told us.
[Image – Banksy’s Phone tap, CC deepstereo]
