Cybercafé operators in the country are openly flouting the directives of the Nigerian Communications Commission on the production of records of their clients as part of the Federal Government’s determination to check the rising level of cyber crimes in the country.
Investigations by our correspondent showed that a large number of the operators were not aware of the directive.
Most of the operators in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Imo and Kwara states as well as the Federal Capital Territory, it was learnt, had no plans to keep such records.
To a large extent, majority of the people who patronise the cafes are also not aware of the directive by the NCC.
The commission, in its summary of compliance monitoring and enforcement activities for the fourth quarter of 2013, said it had issued a public notice to all cybercafé operators in the country to maintain a database for all their customers in order to check cyber crimes.
Further to this, it said a mechanism for the monitoring compliance of the directive had been put in place by its Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department.
A cybercafé operator in Ogun State, Mr. Funso Adeleke, told our correspondent that he was not aware of the directive and did not see it succeeding given the poor level of enlightenment by the NCC.
He doubted the workability of the plan, saying, “How does the NCC intend to achieve this kind of thing when we have a lot of cybercafés operating in many cities and towns across the country.
“They said they have given us a notice, but I can tell you that this is my first time of hearing about it.”
Another cybercafé operator in Lagos, Mr. Etim John, told our correspondent that based on the nature of the business and the number of players involved, the approach of the NCC was not likely to yield the desired result.
“For me, I don’t think they are serious about what they are saying,” he added.
When our correspondent contacted the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, he said he would get in touch with the department in charge of monitoring and enforcement to get the updates.
A call to him again went through but he did not pick the telephone.
The NCC on its website said consistent with Section 89 of the Nigerian Communication Act, 2003, which mandates it to monitor all significant matters relating to the performance of all licensed telecoms service providers, its Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department had developed monitoring strategies to prosecute the mandate.
The department is also expected to achieve the objectives of fair competition, ethical market practices and optimal quality of service in the telecoms industry.
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