Cybercrime Policing in the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force

Authors

  • Usman A. Ojedokun
  • Samson I. Oshilaja

Keywords:

Cybercrime, Cybercriminals, Online Criminality, Policing, Lagos State Police, Command, Nigeria Police Force

Abstract

The criminality of cybercriminals operating in Nigeria has significantly expanded from the initially dominant cyber fraud to include other categories of cybercrime. Although the Nigerian Government has tried to contain the problem, there is a shortage of scholarly information on the specific role of the Nigeria Police Force in fighting this form of crime. Given this, the central objective of this study was to investigate cybercrime policing in the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force. It was exploratory and cross-sectional in design. . Data were sourced from 27 purposively selected police personnel using in-depth and key-informant interviews. The results showed that the Lagos State Police Command routinely handled different cases of cybercrime. However, exposure to professional training in cybercrime policing skills was restricted to certain categories of officers. Although different internal and external strategies were being used by the Police Command to combat cybercrime, the overall effectiveness of its personnel was being hampered by multiple operational challenges.

Author Biographies

Usman A. Ojedokun

Usman A. Ojedokun, PhD is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He majors in the area of Criminology and Victimology. His core research areas of focus include: crime prevention and law enforcement, policing and police studies, violence, gender and cultural studies. He has worked and published extensively in these areas. His recently co-edited book, Criminal Justice System in Nigeria, funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was published in June, 2022. Twitter handle: @kunleojedokun.

Samson I. Oshilaja

Samson I. Oshilaja is a postgraduate student at the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

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Published

2023-02-04

How to Cite

Ojedokun, U. A., & Oshilaja, S. I. (2023). Cybercrime Policing in the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force. Salus Journal, 10(2), 34–50. Retrieved from https://view.salusjournal.com/article/view/144

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2022)

Section

Research Articles