By Daniel Kanu
Civil society groups under the aegis of Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS) have condemned in strong terms the abuse and misuse of digital technologies in monitoring, regulating, and restricting the civic space by the Federal Government.
The groups further revealed shocking security narratives and devices employed by the government including how huge budgetary allocations, equipment, and technologies originally procured in the name of counterterrorism and curbing insecurity are being diverted to monitor the movement of citizens as well as track activities of civil actors online.
AGFCS made the disclosure in Lagos, yesterday, (Wednesday) during the launch of its latest research reports, ‘The Security Playbook of Digital Authoritarianism in Nigeria’ and ‘Harms from Abroad: The Impact of Global Security Measures on the Civic Space on Nigeria’.
The two reports present the findings of a three-part study which examined how the military and non-military measures –mostly copied from abroad deployed to combat numerous threats in the country are being used secretly to close the civil space.
In a statement signed by the groups including Spaces for Change, Interactive Initiative for social impact, Justice Rights Initiative, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy, Youths Right and Environmental Advocacy Centre among others they raised the alarm over arbitrary surveillance of civic actors including journalists, protesters, bloggers, etc.
The coalition made recommendations which included that the “Nigerian parliament must put forward an acceptable definition of terrorism, stressing that the definition of terrorism and violent extremism in national laws must not be overly broad and vague.
“That Nigerian government can explore the use of import controls as a strategy to limit the influx of sophisticated spyware technologies into the country.
“That businesses should seek to protect the rights of clients and customers by developing and adhering to data privacy policies and processes as espoused under international and local law.
“That international organisations can offer support to the advocacy by local organisations by pushing for stronger legal regimes and stiffer sanctions for suppliers of digital technologies used to indiscriminately survey the activities of civic actors.”