Senate Orders Crackdown on Bandits Flaunting Millions on TikTok

The Senate on Thursday directed security agencies to intensify surveillance and enforcement against bandits and terrorists using social media platforms, particularly TikTok, to flaunt criminal activities, display illicit wealth, and promote their operations online.

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi on the escalating security situation in Kogi West and other parts of the country.

During the debate, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan raised concerns over the increasing audacity of criminal groups who openly showcase their activities on social media without fear of arrest.

She called on the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre and other security agencies to immediately track, monitor, and apprehend individuals using digital platforms to publicise criminal operations.

According to the senator, some bandit groups have become so emboldened that they now conduct public cash giveaways on social media, allegedly using proceeds from criminal activities.

“Two days ago, bandits conducted a giveaway, distributing over ₦100 million within 30 minutes through their social media handles, especially TikTok,” she told lawmakers.

Akpoti-Uduaghan questioned why security agencies had failed to leverage the digital footprints left by such criminal elements to track and arrest them.

“I wonder why the Cybercrime Unit and the Police Force generally cannot track these activities and apprehend them since they are on social media,” she said.

The proposal received overwhelming support from senators across party lines, with Senator Osita Ngwu seconding the motion.

Responding, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the online activities of bandits and terrorists as a dangerous display of impunity and a direct challenge to the authority of the Nigerian state.

“The Department of State Services should be able to track their movements and arrest them because this is a show of impunity, as if there is no law at all,” Akpabio said.

He warned that videos showing criminal elements displaying huge sums of money and openly celebrating their activities were undermining public confidence in the country's security architecture.

“That idea of showing themselves, showing the cash collected and displaying it is a way of challenging the government,” he added.

The Senate President urged intelligence and security agencies to treat the issue as a national security priority, emphasizing the need for real-time digital surveillance and swift operational responses.

He further called for greater accountability from security agencies, insisting that Nigerians should be informed whenever arrests are made and prosecutions initiated.

“If they are apprehended, they should also report back so that Nigerians can know that those who openly show their faces while committing crimes are being arrested and prosecuted,” Akpabio stated.

The Senate's resolution comes amid growing concerns about the increasing use of social media by criminal groups to project influence, recruit sympathisers, intimidate communities, and showcase proceeds of crime, raising fresh questions about digital monitoring and intelligence gathering by security agencies.