IGP Disu Warns Nigerians Against Hacking Phones, Sharing Nude Photos

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has warned Nigerians towards unlawfully accessing different folks’s telephones and social media accounts, sharing non-public sexual photographs, creating faux accounts and interesting in different cybercrime-related offences.

Disu warned that people concerned in such actions may face prosecution underneath relevant cybercrime legal guidelines, stressing that ignorance of the legislation wouldn’t excuse offenders.

The police chief gave the warning whereas declaring open the 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign organised by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja on Thursday.

According to a press release on the occasion, Disu additionally cautioned Nigerians towards cyberstalking, cyberbullying, on-line impersonation, sending threatening messages and knowingly spreading false data able to inflicting panic or endangering lives.

He particularly warned towards the unauthorised circulation of different folks’s nude images and personal movies, together with for revenge or leisure, noting that offences involving youngsters have been notably critical.

The IGP, who was represented by a senior police officer on the occasion, stated Nigeria’s growing reliance on digital expertise had uncovered people, companies and public establishments to fraud, id theft, knowledge breaches, extortion and different cyber-enabled monetary crimes.

He known as for a shift from responding to cyberattacks after they happen to figuring out threats and disrupting legal actions earlier than they trigger hurt.

“We must move from incident response to threat anticipation, from reactive investigation to proactive disruption, and from analysing yesterday’s attack to preparing for tomorrow’s attack,” Disu stated.

The police chief additionally warned Nigerians towards lending their financial institution accounts or SIM playing cards to individuals who may use them to obtain proceeds of fraud, stressing that account holders may face investigation if their accounts have been linked to suspicious transactions.

“Don’t lend anybody your bank account. If fraud passes through it, you may answer as an accomplice,” he stated.

He additional condemned the falsification of cost alerts and receipts, in addition to the illegal sale or distribution of different folks’s Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), National Identification Numbers (NINs) and financial institution card particulars.

Disu urged monetary establishments, fintech firms, cost service suppliers and telecommunications operators to strengthen inner controls, worker screening, transaction monitoring and impartial audits to stop insider involvement in cybercrime.

He stated weak supervision, compromised login credentials, abuse of entry privileges and malicious conduct by insiders may expose monetary establishments and their prospects to cyber-enabled fraud.

The IGP suggested Nigerians to keep away from suspicious hyperlinks, shield their passwords and one-time passwords, activate multi-factor authentication and independently confirm cost directions earlier than transferring cash.

“Think before you click. If you don’t know the person who sent you the message, you can ignore it. If you click, anything could happen. You can get a virus, and your account can be wiped out,” he warned.

He additionally cautioned towards utilizing simply guessed passwords, similar to dates of delivery and kids’s names, urging residents to report suspicious on-line actions and search help in the event that they grow to be victims of fraud, cyberbullying or sextortion.

Addressing younger Nigerians, Disu urged them to channel their digital expertise into official ventures, together with cybersecurity, software program growth and expertise entrepreneurship, moderately than pursuing fast wealth by way of legal actions.

“Cybercrime can cost you your freedom, your reputation and peace of mind. Choose creativity over criminality and integrity over shortcuts,” he stated.

The marketing campaign, held underneath the theme “Towards a Resilient Cyberspace: Think Before You Click,” introduced consideration to the necessity for stronger cybersecurity consciousness, improved digital investigations and cooperation amongst legislation enforcement businesses, regulators, expertise firms, monetary establishments and the general public.

Disu stated constructing a safer digital atmosphere required collective duty, including that cybersecurity needs to be handled as a nationwide safety precedence moderately than solely a technical concern.