ITREALMS:
For the Kogi State government under the watch of Alhaji
Yahaya Bello as governor, to shut down some 70 telecommunications sites, he may
have breached the 2015 Cybercrime Act, and could be tried even after office, reports
ITREALMS.
This action, ITREALMS
gathered affected 10 states including Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT) Abuja.
Also, this is coming in the wake of reports that the Office
of the National Security Adviser had written the state government to advise
against such shutdowns as it constitute security breach as evident in the Part
II: Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure, because
telecommunications is.
Investigations by ITREALMS showed that by the shutdowns,
Kogi State under his watch has constituted a critical national security threat
and could be tried after his immunity expires on leaving his current office.
The controversial Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya
Bello may have after all committed an offence under the Cybercrime Act of 2015
by ordering the sealing and shut downs of some 70 cell sites which have
affected 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, reports ITREALMS.
Investigations by ITREALMS showed that by the shutdowns,
Kogi State under his watch has constituted a critical national security threat.
Reacting to the shutdowns by Kogi government of
telecommunications sites, the Executive Chairman, Consultancy Support Services
Limited, a Cyber Security & Information Communication Technology (ICT) Consultancy,
told ITREALMS the government, may be in breach of the Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act
2015.
This, he explained will amount to serious denial of service
to the telecom consumers in the country.
He expressed displeasure on the fact that the shutdown may
not affect only Kogi State alone but 10 others, just as Ajijola said even the
decision at the time electioneering campaign for 2019 is stating is absurd.
Ajijola also cautioned the nation’s political class to draw
a line between Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and creation of viable jobs.
He argued that the so-called IGR is actually out of value
chain jobs emanating from broad technology adoption in the country by the
small, medium enterprises.
“Our political class and many public sector decision makers
are unable to appreciate that government revenues accrue from taxes as a result
of job and wealth creation, not the other way around,” he said.
Alternatively, the affected states may have to get court
injunctions to restrain the Kogi Government and its agents from shutting down
telecom infrastructures considering their effects even beyond the state.
ITREALMS recalls that the shutting down of
telecommunications facilities in Kogi State was as a result of disputes arising
from unusual taxes and levies demanded by the Kogi State Government through its
Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, Ministry of Environment and
Mineral Resources, Kogi State Environmental Protection Board, championed by the
Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS), from the GSM Operators under the
aegis of Association Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
And the affected states include the entire Kogi State, parts
of Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and
those states sharing borders with
Kogi State.
These include Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo,
Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States.
Chuks Egbune/ED, Ops
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