Social Significance of the Study

Annually, October 1st is marked with fanfare in Nigeria, a national tradition

since she won self-rule status from the British colonial rulers in 1960. But, unlike

past editions, the 2010 independence celebration, which was the 50th - a milestone

considering the country’s checkered political history - was engulfed in the flames

of deaths and controversies that shook the fabric of Africa’s most populous nation.

A sad one for her fledgling democracy, Nigeria’s golden jubilee, which was

elaborately organized to advertize the nation’s scanty gains of nationhood,

suddenly turned into a moment of grief and mourning, spewing blood, tears and

sorrow. After an explosion of twin bomb blasts near the venue of the carnival-like

celebrations in the nation’s capital in Abuja, 15 innocent civilians were confirmed

dead and many more maimed, including security operatives who were on hand to

protect the citizenry.1

The dastardly act, an unfitting national birthday gift, did not just foul the

festive air in many homes across the vast country; it also cast an unfortunately

added dent on the image of a country that had had its share of bad news

internationally some weeks before the ceremonies, having been dubbed a time-

1
Though the state security service confirmed that nine people met their untimely deaths, the
media reported a larger picture of casualties. Apart from the dead, the tragedy also left
many passers-by maimed and wounded. See Anayochukwu Agbo, Playing Politics with
Bombs, TELL Magazine, October 11, 2010; see http://www.tellng.com/
bomb as a politically unstable nation.2 Pronto, the security agencies expectedly

swung into action, hurling some Nigerians into detention as suspected perpetrators

of the heinous crime. As the public mood ran riot during the ensuing manhunt, the

stream of things changed with break-neck pace when Raymond Dokpesi, a media

mogul, was arrested and grilled in connection with the unfortunate incident. His

arrest and interrogation was on the strength of text messages allegedly linking him

with some of the characters suspected to be the perpetrators of the bombings.

Unsurprisingly in a country where ethnic rivalry or mutual distrust among her

predatory political elites is a way of life, divisive political connotations, especially

the usual north-south dichotomy sentiments, soon crept into a national security

challenge that deserved national solidarity to unlock, thus refreshing the wound of

age-old leadership acrimonies stymieing genuine development in Nigeria’s nascent

democracy.

Suddenly, even without any evidence to back same, four presidential

aspirants from a section of the country had teamed up to accuse the incumbent

president, who hails from another section of the country, of witch-hunting one of

2
As if endued with some gift of prescience, John Campbell, former US ambassador to
Nigeria, in one of his numerous acerbic commentaries on the state of affairs in Nigeria, had
predicted that the forthcoming general elections in Africa’s most populous country could
plunge the nation back on the brink of collapse. Though many top Nigerian public officials
quickly labeled him a prophet of doom and allayed mounting fears, the aftermath of the
bomb blast exposed the fragility of Nigeria’s stability and unity. Read further in John
Campbell, Nigeria on the brink: what happens if the 2011 election fails? See
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66746/john-campbell/nigeria-on-the-brink?
cid=soc-twitter-in-nigeria-nigeria_on_the_brink-090910
them and, invariably, the section of the country where they all hail from.3 Although

Dokpesi has since regained his freedom, other suspects in the unfolding saga are

not that lucky, with some of them now answering terrorism charges in the court.

Relying on text messages and voice calls that allegedly transpired between the

mobile phones of those arrested, the security agencies pounced on the suspected

bombers, saying there was a nexus of clandestine operations and connivance

between the suspects and their financiers.4 In other words, the much-trumpeted feat

of police investigations, as both plausible and doubtful as it seems, is dependent on

the alleged text messages and call logs extracted from the cell phones of those

fingered as masterminds of the bomb explosions.

Perhaps because of the weighty national security issues involved, there

seems a conspiracy of silence on the part of rights advocacy groups as to the

proprietary of a government agency invading the private sanctuary of some

citizens’ mobile phones in an attempt to obtain information. But if it is open to

3
A vociferous sectional political pressure group from the home-base of the four presidential
aspirants issued an ultimatum for the sitting president to resign and even threatened to call
on the National Assembly to impeach him if he failed to do as requested. Read more in
Ayodele Akinkuotu, From the Editor, TELL Magazine, October 11, 2010; see
http://www.tellng.com/
4
In a manner that raised the nation’s political temperature, Dokpesi, who is also director-
general of campaign organization of one of the four presidential of northern Nigeria
extraction contesting the presidential ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party with the
incumbent president, alleged persecution.
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5626699-
146/dokpesi_arrested_over_fridays_bomb-blast.csp or
http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/abuja-bomb-blast-ibbs-campaign-director-
raymond-dokpesi-arrested%E2%80%A6fg-threatened-nationalize
conjectures as to whether the due process of the law was satisfied before obtaining

an information that is supposed to be a private data, what is however not in doubt

is the fact that the last is yet to be heard on the roiling saga, for the outcome of

police efforts will certainly trigger streams of issues that may dominate national

discourse. More than before, not a few will want the court to determine the fate of

the detained suspects as to whether the security agencies of government have the

legal power to clamp people into detention on the strength of information

forcefully accessed through their mobile phones.

Historically, that was not the first time there was media hoopla over

information trumped into the public domain from mobile phones of citizens in the

country. Before a controversial judgment was delivered in a governorship election

petition in 2008, some of the judges were accused of ‘unholy’ romance with one of

the parties in the protracted dispute. In fact, it was a huge national embarrassment

when one of the leading weeklies published a steaming story containing the alleged

call logs and text messages between the judges and the defendants. Rather than

help illuminate the haze of raging controversies, the published call logs spewed

further wave of endless debates and crises that are yet to be resolved - either in the

tribunal of public opinion or in the law court5.

5
Despite threats by one of the accused parties to sue the publishers of the magazine, no
legal action was taken against the publication. Yet, the election petition that triggered the
brouhaha is yet to be resolved years after. Read further in
http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=14388 or see
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20080817030485
Since the mobile phone frenzy hit Africa, the tenor of criminality has changed,

leaving many countries groaning under escalating mobile phone-assisted crime

wave. This is made possible because between ninety seven and ninety nine per cent

of mobile phone users in Africa use pre-paid phones, which make it easier to use

pre-paid vouchers without any traceable or registered address6. From economic and

financial crimes to armed robbery, kidnapping and terrorism, it has been insecurity

galore for embattled citizens, even as it has also spelled a hectic time for law

enforcement agencies that are easily out-maneuvered by social miscreants. At

different times in some parts of Nigeria, many school children, relatives of political

gladiators, traditional rulers, journalists, movie stars, and oil workers, mainly

expatriates, have been victims to kidnappers who depend on mobile phones to

negotiate their ransom7. With the proliferation of cell phones in Ghana, stolen and

cloned phones are fast becoming new tools for criminals, not only to conduct

phone service but also using the technology to carry out illegal activities in a

manner that often outwits the eagle eyes of security personnel8. It reached an

6
See a report by Reuters which was cited by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC.
Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10366235 (accessed on November 15, 2010)
7
For some of reported cases of victims of kidnapping in Nigeria, see
http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/14282 (accessed on November 16, 2010)
8
Expressing its concerns over the increasing frequency at which mobile phone is being used
to carry out criminal acts in Ghana, the Association of Independent Mobile Phone and Credit
Dealers, warned unsuspecting phone users to beware of con masters who use camera
phones to snap other people’s credit cards, which allow the criminals to know the name of
the card owner, card number and expiration date on the card. For more detailed description
alarming level recently when a leading civil society organization in Ghana cried

out by lampooning the government and blaming the police for the state of

insecurity in the country.9

The unpalatable story is almost the same in other West African countries like

Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Liberia, Sierra Leone, The

Gambia, Niger and Cote d’Ivoire. In fact, the spate of phone-enabled crimes

became so worrisome in the country that the American embassy in Abidjan sent

the following warning message to all prospective victims of fraudsters in the West

African sub-region10

All telephone numbers provided will be cell phones. In

Cote d’Ivoire, all cell phone numbers start with 05, 07,
or 08. They do not generally provide landline
telephone numbers, since these numbers can be easily
traced to a physical location. Anyone in Cote d’Ivoire
can easily purchase an inexpensive cell phone on a
street corner and then purchase anonymously a pre-
paid SIM card to operate their "business" out of this
cell phone number, without ever having to provide any
subscriber information. If they believe that they are
being traced, identified, or near arrest, they can
abandon their fake identities by tossing these pre-

of ways con artistes use to swindle phone users in Ghana, see

http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2010/10/04/mobile-phone-dealers-condemn-use-of-cell-
phones-in-crimes/ (accessed on November 15, 2010)
9
For the state of the nation address by the Alliance for Accountable Governance, see
http://www.theghanaianjournal.com/2010/11/02/afag-blames-police-for-increasing-
insecurity-in-ghana/ (accessed on November 21, 2010)
10
See http://abidjan.usembassy.gov/art_of_scam.html (accessed on November 15, 2010)
 paid cell phone and any tools of their trade into a
public trashcan and walk away, thus protecting their
true identities.

Unfortunately, events in many other African states follow similar unhealthy

trend, differing only in style, intensity and magnitude. What however provided the

raw materials for this study is not the continent’s queer politics; it is the role

handsets are accused of playing in the escalating insecurity, the modus operandi of

the intelligence community in fixing the security conundrum besetting the vast

region, the new response of mobile technology regulatory institutions as well as

weak protections for citizens whose rights are at stake whenever there is a security

risk.

The Heart of the Matter

Properly x-rayed, the success story in the telecommunications sector has

triggered existential issues that need to engage the thinking of discerning Africans.

Across many African states, there are bourgeoning calls that all mobile phone

operators should register existing SIM cards - both those on prepaid and the ones

on contract - in the name and address of the user, while new ones should not be

activated without satisfying these conditions.11 When mobile technology was

11
For further readings, see Ayantokun Oluwaseun, NCC Unveils Plans to End Kidnapping in
Nigeria…Using Telecoms Devices; see http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/tele-
info/8777-ncc-unveils-plans-to-end-kidnapping-in-nigeriausing-telecoms-devices
brought to the region in 1990s, African governments made the fatal mistake of not

compelling the operators to demand for one form of proof of identity or the other

before activating SIM cards for ecstatic users, thus robbing each country of the

much-needed national database of mobile telephone users. When analog mode of

telephony was in vogue, every country had a database of subscribers, even if only

to ensure convenience of sending monthly bills to the moneyed few that were

connected to the national grid.

This singular oversight, it is argued, is what has emboldened more criminals

to employ the use of prepaid phones to carry out their nefarious activities with an

air of impunity, spurring more and more technology-savvy youths to further

indulge in fraudulent chores by sending malicious and unsolicited text messages to

other subscribers. Countries like Zimbabwe, Serra Leone, and Kenya have joined

this corrective regulation bandwagon, while many others are planning to follow

suit, though this is being greeted with suspicion and distrust in many countries

such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Ghana where people fear that submitting their

personal information may open them up for security surveillance.12 In Nigeria,

12
For more on the suspicion attending registration of mobile phones, see SIM Card
Registration Continues Apace. It is available at http://www.audiencescapes.org/sim-card-
registration--africa-security-identity-kenya-sierra-leone-zimbabwe-mobile-phones; in an
online debate hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation to discuss the possibility of the
new registration scheme to impinge on privacy and rights, many people voiced the fears,
saying it would be abused. http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?
forumID=7447&start=30&edition=2&ttl=20101104054857. Also see
http://www.audiencescapes.org/sierra-leone-SIM-cards-registration-illegal-
activity-surveillance-government-NATCOM-Freetown-security (accessed on
November 21, 2010)
which joined the mobile phone frenzy in 2001, the Nigerian Communication

Commission, NCC, unveiled a plan recently, which entails installing equipment on

every mast with the goal of achieving triangulation in order to identify and locate

real geographical location of phone users, whether the handsets involved are GPS-

enabled or not.

Even in Ghana, Africa’s emerging model of democracy, tongues are wagging as to

the legality of compelling operators to register all SIM cards13. Unlike other

countries, Ghana went a step further with its plan to start a novel phone tapping

system called Intelligence Signaling Management System, ISMS. Among other

things, this would help Ghana monitor and track all incoming international calls,

see and also read text messages and access other data on cell phones. Expectedly,

the idea has drawn flaks and litigations from rights advocacy groups who consider

the efforts as an illegal peep into the private affairs of citizenry.14

13
While lampooning the federal authorities for initiating registration of handset users’ data,
Ace Anan Ankomah, a legal practitioner in Ghana, petitioned government. He insisted that
the move contravened article 18(2) of the country’s 1992 constitution, which abhors
interference with the privacy of citizens’ home, property, correspondence and
communication, except in accordance with the law. Read further in Ace Akomah Battles
National Security over Mobile Phone Registration.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200912170960.html
14
In a suit instituted against the government of Ghana by the Alliance for Accountable
Governance, AFAG, maintained that the planned installation of an intelligence system to
monitor phone calls amounted to a breach of fundamental human rights of Ghanaians. It
therefore prayed the court to declare the action ultra vires. See AFAG Sues Government
over Phone Tapping. http://www.modernghana.com/news/277910/1/afag-sues-
government-over-phone-tapping.html