The internet has been agog with the now-viral sex tape video of pupils of Chrisland School, Lagos.
But most Nigerians don’t know that watching, downloading or sharing the Chrisland video or any other child pornography is a punishable offence under Nigerian laws.
Here are five quick facts to know before watching, sharing or downloading child pornography.
1. Section 23 of Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act 2015 prescribes a 10-year jail term or a fine of not more than 20 million naira or both for any person who intentionally uses any computer system or network in or for, producing:
(a) producing child pornography.
(b) offering or making available child pornography.
(c) distributing or transmitting child pornography.
2. The act also recommends five years imprisonment or a fine of not more than 10 million naira or both for anyone who:
(a) Procures child pornography for oneself or for another person;
(b) possesses child pornography in a computer system or on a computer-data storage medium.
3. Any person who knowingly makes or sends other pornographic images to another computer by way of unsolicited distribution shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be sentenced to one-year imprisonment or a fine of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira or both.
4. The act prescribes a term of not more than ten years imprisonment and a fine of not more than 15 million naira for a person who intentionally proposes, grooms or solicits, through any computer or network, to meet a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities with the child.
5. A jail term of not more than 15 years imprisonment and a fine of not more than 25 million naira awaits anyone engaging in sexual activities with a child where:
(i) use is made of coercion, inducement, force or threats;
(ii) abuse is made of a recognized position of trust, authority or influence over the child including within the family; or (iii) abuse is made of a particularly vulnerable situation of the child, mental or physical disability or a situation of dependence.
Recruiting, inducing, coercing, exposing, or causing a child to participate in pornographic performances or profiting from or otherwise exploiting a child for such purposes also attract the same punishment as (five) above.
The term “child pornography” according to the act shall include pornographic material that visually depicts:
(a) a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct;
(b) a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and
(c) realistic images representing a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The act defines a “child” or “minor” as a person below 18 years of age.
