Surveillance Technologies Increasing Rights Abuses In Nigeria –Report

A new report unveiled by Spaces for Change (S4C) has revealed that increasing deployment of surveillance technologies by both state and non-state actors is increasing human rights abuses in the country.

The report also revealed that countries in Africa, including Nigeria, spend $1 billion in the importation of digital surveillance technologies every year.

The report; “The Proliferation of Dual-use Surveillance Technologies in Nigeria: Deployment, Risks and Accountability,” was unveiled yesterday in Abuja during the West Africa Civil Society Week (WACSW) organised by S4C in collaboration with the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) under the West Africa Civic Space Resources Hub (CSR-Hub) with support by the Ford Foundation.

Presenting the report, Lead S4C Ghana County Office, Olusola Mercy Olutayo, who raised concerns over what she described as huge regulatory and control gaps in Dual Use Surveillance Technologies (DUTs), said they could be used to carry out terrorist attacks, create explosives using agro-based products etc.

Olutayo said: “The proliferation of surveillance technologies and the associated human rights abuses have soared because of their dual-use nature of most technologies and their corresponding capacity to be used for both military and civilian uses either for malevolent or benevolent objectives.