Page 9 - THENIGERIAPOLICEFORCE AND CYBERPOLICINGASYNOPSIS

cybercrime is somewhat hampered by the inadequacies in the existing cybercrime laws.

Undoubtedly, cybercrime is a complex problem that possesses great challenges for policing.

Ehimen and Bola (2009) concluded that the Nigeria police Force simply lacks internet
policing capabilities. Basically, the Nigerian law enforcement agencies are technology

illiterates; they lack computer forensics training and often result to conducting raids on
internet service sites mainly for the purpose of extortion. Similarly, Olayemi (2014) revealed

that the Nigerian law enforcement agencies lack the capacity in terms of both training and
equipment necessary to ensure cyber security in the country. Danquah and Longe (2011)

lamented that most prosecutors also lack the training and specialization to focus on the

prosecution of criminals who use computer-based and Internet system as a means of
committing crimes.

Theoretical Underpin

Routine Activities Theory (RAT)

Routine activities theory was originally developed by Lawrence Cohen and Markus Felson in

1979 (Policastro, 2013). The concept of “Routine Activities” means any recurrent and
prevalent activities which provide for basic population and individual needs (Cohen & Felson

as cited in Policastro, 2013). Degarmo (2011) argued that generally routine activities
approach is based on two ideas: (1) in order for crime to occur, motivated offenders must

converge, in space and time, with suitable targets in the absence of capable guardian, (2) that

the probability of this occurring is influenced by routine activities. Furthermore, crime is a
non-accidental phenomenon that depends on three components: a motivated offender, a

suitable target and lack of capable guardianship. Combining these elements increases the
likelihood of criminal activity and increases the chances of victimization as well.

While testing RAT in the cyberspace, each of the core elements of the theory that present

criminogenic tendency has been considered. With respect to motivated offender in the
internet, they include fraudsters, hackers, pirates, etc. Similarly, there are several targets

suitable for predation – proprietary data, personal information, online payment and

purchasing services, and computer systems. Lastly, capable guardians take numerous forms,
such as law enforcement personnel, network administrators, forum moderators, users, and

peers, as well as range of automated protections like firewalls, virtual private networks, anti-
virus and anti-intrusion software (Leukfeldt & Yar, 2016).

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