…say Nigerian children face growing threats of cyberbullying, grooming and oline exploitation
By Gloria Ikibah
Child rights advocates have called on the National Assembly to fast-track the passage of a bill aimed at protecting Nigerian children from online abuse, cyberbullying, exploitation and other digital threats. 
The appeal was made during a stakeholders’ roundtable in Abuja on Friday, where campaigners, legal experts and education stakeholders expressed concern over the increasing dangers facing children in the digital space.
At the centre of the discussions was the proposed “Child Online Access Protection and Online Violence Against Nigerian Child Bill”, which seeks to criminalise various forms of online abuse targeting minors and establish stronger safeguards for children using the internet.
The proposed legislation also seeks to introduce a 0.02 per cent levy on the assessable profits of search engines, telecommunications service providers, artificial intelligence companies, gaming platforms, streaming services and social media application vendors operating in Nigeria to support implementation of the law.
The call comes against the backdrop of a 2018 UNICEF report which revealed that a new child goes online every half second globally. The report also highlighted the scale of the challenge in Nigeria, where about 90 per cent of children are exposed to online risks, including cyberbullying, inappropriate content and exploitation.
Speaking at the event, the Country Director of Lawyers Without Borders in Nigeria, Ms Angela Uzoma, said the proposed legislation will have a direct impact on the lives of millions of Nigerian children.
According to her, widespread access to digital devices has increased children’s exposure to online dangers, making legal protection more urgent than ever.
She said: “So every Nigerian, whether you are a biological parent or not, whether you are an aunt or an uncle, whether you are a child or an adult, you should be interested and should support this bill.
“When we talk about online harms that children are exposed to, it ranges from issues around cyber bullying, grooming, child exposure to sexualual violence, sexual abuse.
“We have children being groomed, we have children, being threatened online. We have children, we have predators, pretending to be children and targeting children.
“We have sextortion going on, children are being tricked into exposing intimate parts of their bodies, to adults, who are hiding and pretending to be children.
“So everyone in Nigeria should be interested in having joining their voices to call on the Nigerian Senate to pass this bill.”
Uzoma noted that nearly 90 per cent of Nigerian children now have access to digital devices either at home, in school or through friends, exposing them to a broad range of online threats and abuse.
Also speaking, Coordinator of the General Unit at the National Assembly, Ms Christiana Eguma, said the bill was designed to improve online safety for children in an increasingly digital world.
She observed that many children access the internet without adequate supervision, making them vulnerable to harmful content and online predators.
Eguma explained that the legislation would also place responsibility on digital platforms to proactively prevent abuse and harmful content targeting children.
“It puts accountability on the platform themselves so that they can take responsibility of putting down some of these negative things early enough.
“It seeks to ensure that from the parents to the school, to the children, everybody is responsible enough to protect children online.
“So the bill seeks to ensure children are protected from the adult, and from even their own peers that are bullies, and we are calling on the National Assembly to pass the bill so that the Nigerian children can be protected from all harm,” she said.
On his part, education advocate Mr Oluwasesan Ifegbesan stressed that safeguarding children online should be a collective responsibility.
He called on parents, educators and the wider public to remain vigilant and actively guide children on the safe use of the internet and social media platforms.
Stakeholders at the roundtable agreed that while technology offers significant opportunities for learning and development, stronger legal protections and greater public awareness are needed to shield children from growing online threats.
They expressed optimism that the proposed legislation, if passed, would strengthen Nigeria’s child protection framework and help create a safer digital environment for millions of young internet users across the country.
