Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, unlawful access to a computer
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, s. 6 (unlawful access to a computer)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 5 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not intentionally access a computer system or network without authorisation for a fraudulent purpose in order to obtain data vital to national security.
- Reading a public, unauthenticated page for an ordinary business purpose has not itself been held by a reported Nigerian decision to violate this provision, and section 6(1)'s own text conditions the offence on a fraudulent purpose and national-security data.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
A fine of not more than N5,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for the base offence (s. 6(1)); a fine of not more than N7,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than seven years, or both, where the aggravating intent in subsection (2) is present.
Penalty structure
The higher of two fixed-fine ceilings set by section 6: N5,000,000 for the base offence under subsection (1), N7,000,000 where the aggravating intent in subsection (2) is present. Each tier also permits imprisonment instead of or in addition to the fine, up to the same tiered maximum terms.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 5 September 2026
- Currency
- NGN
- Fixed cap
- 7,000,000
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 6(1) makes it an offence for any person, without authorisation, to intentionally access in whole or in part a computer system or network for a fraudulent purpose and to obtain data vital to national security, punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine of not more than N5,000,000, or both.
Section 6(2) raises the penalty to imprisonment for not more than seven years or a fine of not more than N7,000,000, or both, where the access is committed with the intent of obtaining computer data, securing access to a program, or obtaining commercial, industrial, or classified information.
Section 6(1)'s own text conditions the offence on a fraudulent purpose and on the data obtained being vital to national security, so a plain reading of that subsection does not reach ordinary scraping of a public, unauthenticated page absent both elements; section 6(2)'s aggravated form reaches a wider set of intents but is only reached once subsection (1)'s unauthorised-access element is made out. No reported Nigerian decision has applied section 6 to a scraper.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_webtrains_models
Read the law
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act
2015, official PDF published by the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (cert.gov.ng), cited through an Internet Archive capture of that PDF its section numbering (s. 6 unlawful access, s. 24 cyberstalking) is the enacted Act's