By Oluwakemi Kindness
Advocates of children’s rights have called on the National Assembly to expedite the passage of the Bill for an Act to establish the Child Online Access Protection and Online Violence Against Nigerian Child and for Other Related Matters.
The call was made at a stakeholders’ roundtable in Abuja on Friday, where participants warned that Nigerian children face growing exposure to online abuse and exploitation.
They urged lawmakers to prioritise the bill to strengthen digital safety laws for children.
Rising concern over online risks to children
Advocates cited a 2018 UNICEF report which showed that a new child goes online every half second globally, increasing exposure to digital risks.
They noted that in Nigeria, about 90 per cent of children are exposed to online threats such as cyberbullying, grooming, inappropriate content, and sextortion.
They warned that the digital space has become increasingly unsafe for minors without stronger legal protection.
What the proposed bill seeks to achieve
The bill aims to criminalise cyberbullying, cyber abuse, cyber extortion, and other harmful online activities targeting children.
It also seeks to make digital platforms more accountable for harmful content accessible to minors.
A key provision of the bill proposes a 0.02 per cent levy on the assessable profits of search engines, telecom companies, AI firms, gaming platforms, streaming services, and social media companies operating in Nigeria.
Experts warn of growing online exploitation
Country Director of Lawyers Without Borders in Nigeria, Angela Uzoma, said the bill is urgent given the scale of children’s exposure to digital risks.
She noted that most Nigerian children now access the internet through phones, schools, or peers.
“Almost all the children in Nigeria, about 90 per cent of them, have access to digital devices,” she said.
Uzoma warned that children are increasingly targeted through cyberbullying, grooming, and sextortion.
“We have children being groomed… predators pretending to be children and targeting children,” she added.
She called for collective action from parents, institutions, and policymakers to support the bill.
Call for platform accountability
Ms Christiana Eguma of the National Assembly said the bill would improve online safety by placing responsibility on digital platforms.
She said platforms must act quickly to remove harmful content targeting children.
“It puts accountability on the platforms themselves so that they can take responsibility of putting down some of these negative things early enough,” she said.
She added that child protection online requires shared responsibility from parents, schools, and government institutions.
Educator calls for stronger parental supervision
An educator, Oluwasesan Ifegbesan, also called for greater vigilance from parents and guardians.
He said children must be properly guided in their use of the internet and social media to reduce exposure to harm.
He urged stakeholders to strengthen awareness and supervision efforts to protect children in the digital space.
