Contending Issues in the Electronic Communications Bill
Emma Okonji examines the most controversial issues in the Electronic Communications Bill currently before the National Assembly and stakeholders’ views on the proposed death penalty for violating the law.
It is a known fact that some Nigerians fought with the last drop of their blood to ensure that the country attained democracy, which protects human rights and allows several freedoms like freedom of association, worship, speech and freedom to personal privacy among others.
Those who fought for democracy in Nigeria years back, knew the importance of freedom, especially that of privacy, hence some of them sacrificed their lives in order to ensure that there is democracy in Nigeria.
Those who were part of the struggle for democracy, who wrestled power from the then military dictatorship, will tell the story better, how Nigerians were brutalised and thrown into various prisons on issues that bother on individual rights and privacy. If you ask them, they will rather choose not to remember the sad and ugly experiences they suffered before democracy was fully entrenched in Nigeria.
However, the action of the honourable members of the House of Representatives and that of the Presidency, penultimate week, has suggested that government is about taking the country back to old days of military dictatorship. The House of Representatives deliberated on a bill sent to them by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which seeks to empower the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and security agencies, to intrude into private communications of Nigerians such as telephone calls, e-mail messages and such other electronic exchange of information like short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia applications, in order to enhance national security, prevent crime and facilitate criminal investigations, if eventually passed into law.
The most annoying part of the bill, is that of section 15 (1), which provides for a jail term of not less than one year or a fine of N2 million for any person who violates the law, as well as a death sentence for any offender who commits crime against it.
Apart from disenfranchising Nigerians from their rights to private communications, the death sentence is like taking Nigerians back to the military dictatorship.But some Nigerians have spoken with one voice against the bill and described it as anti-people. The controversial bill In January 2014, President Jonathan forwarded the Electronic Communications Bill to the lower chamber of the National Assembly to consider its passage; but discussions on the bill were delayed until penultimate week, when the House of Representatives discussed it for the second time.
The controversial bill, which is about the interception of electronic communications, sponsored by the federal government, recently passed a second reading at the House of Representatives. The bill will allow the monitoring of electronic communications by government, and empower it to carry out lawful interception on suspected electronic communications, if eventually passed into law.
Also, section 15 (1) of the bill, provides for a jail term of not less than one year or a fine of N2 million for any person who, by means of a public electronic communications network, persistently sends a message or other matter that (a) is grossly offensive or causes any such message or matter to be so sent; or (b) sending electronic messages that are known to be false, and could cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another or cause.
The bill also prescribes death sentence to a person who commits crime against Critical National Information Infrastructure, which is defined as certain computer systems, networks and information infrastructure vital to the national security of Nigeria or the economy and social well-being of its citizens. Reactions trail bill The penalty aspect of the bill, especially the death sentence, has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians, who described it as wicked and undemocratic. President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, who said the bill is inimical to the growth and sustainability of democracy, told THISDAY that it is a horrible thing to include death sentence as a form of penalty for violators in a bill that is currently being pushed by the House of Representatives.
“The idea of death sentence is totally wrong in a democratic system of government that Nigeria is practicing. If this kind of bill is allowed to be passed, then all Nigerians will be at risk. We should not forget that those who will be empowered to monitor electronic communications of Nigerians, as the bill intends, are human beings that are not error free because no body is perfect. They are subjected to human errors and human misbehaviour. The idea of death sentence is a very delicate thing to think of in the first place,” Ajayi said.
According to him, the bottom line is to protect the security of Nigerians, but that should not be used as an excuse to trample on the fundamental human rights of the citizens.
“The Nigerian constitution guarantees rights and privileges to privacy. So in as mush as government wants to protect its citizens, it must also not abuse their rights to privacy. Government must be conscious of the fact that those it wants to protect, also have rights to privacy, as contained in the Nigerian constitution.
On this note, I want to suggest that such intention of government to monitor electronic communications in the name of protecting the citizens, should be carefully balanced, “Ajayi said.
Although he said some people with ulterior motives could use electronic communications to abuse, inflict injury on persons and even