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By Ngozi Nwoke
A cursory look around every corner shows heads bent, eyes glued to smart phones, thumbs scrolling through social media – the trending addiction and irresistible distraction.
On TikTok, a boy of about 14 years films himself “smoking loud” – Nigerian slang for cannabis, and captions it “#NoDullMoment #YahooBoyLifestyle.” The video gets 2.3 million views in 48 hours.
On the same TikTok, a teenager posts step-by-step instructions on how to “steal iPhones in traffic,” targeting the unsuspecting public. The post ends with: “Boys no dey pity, na survival.” The clip gained over 1 million engagement.
On Facebook, a group of boys in hoodies and red berets are seen dancing to drill music, flashing hand signs, and chanting cult slogans. The caption: “Eiye for life, join if you get liver.”
On Instagram Reels, “Lil Kush” – the page handler, daily posts videos of ladies almost naked, acting sexual skits. The account has over 18,000 followers.
These are very few clips littered on various social media platforms where Nigerian teenagers and students log in daily to watch in the name of content creation for entertainment and visibility.
Cybersecurity experts, counsellors and concerned parents call it “digital grooming and normalisation of anomaly ”- a deliberate strategy where social media platforms, through algorithms that reward shock and controversy, train young minds to see illegal and immoral behaviour as normal, trendy, and profitable.
What starts as “content creation” quickly becomes recruitment. Parents are worried that children who watch these videos don’t just watch; they mimic, they join groups, and they internalise the message that crime, drugs, and sexual exploitation are shortcuts to easy fame and quick money.
Under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act 2015, amended in 2024, posting, sharing, or distributing inappropriate content is a criminal offence. Specifically, section 24 criminalises sending pornographic content or false messages intended to cause a breakdown of law and order.
Sections 3-6 address cyberstalking, identity theft, and unlawful access – relevant to the iPhone theft tutorials that incite theft and endanger public safety.
The Act also covers promotion of violent extremism and cultism, making the “Eiye for life” videos prosecutable as they incite membership in unlawful societies prohibited under Nigerian law.
The penalty ranges from fines to imprisonment, and platforms that fail to take down such content within 24 hours of notice from authorities can also be sanctioned under the NITDA Code of Practice 2022.
Yet the law alone isn’t enough. As the videos rack up millions of views, the real crime becomes cultural: a generation is being raised that mistakes clout for character and virality for value.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA has repeatedly warned that social media is now the biggest recruitment tool for drug dealers. Children don’t see danger; they see entertainment.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Code already forbids broadcasters from airing content that “glamorises violence and crime.” But social media operates in a grey zone, and children are watching.
To understand the human cost, Saturday Sun spoke to a few parents who shared their concerns.
Mrs Folake Adebayo, a businesswoman said, “My daughter, 13, came home last year and asked me, ‘Mummy, what is a runs girl?’ I thought she meant someone who runs errands. She showed me a TikTok video of a girl her age dancing half-naked, with men spraying money.
“The caption said ‘How to be a runs babe 101’. That phone was supposed to be for online classes. I thought I was giving my daughter the world with that phone. I didn’t know I was handing her to wolves. Now I’ve taken it away, but the damage is done. She thinks being famous online is better than WAEC.”
Mrs Adebayo now uses parental control apps but says it’s a battle. “These children are smarter than us with phones. The moment you block one app, they download another VPN.”
Chinedu Okoro, a civil servant, noted that his 15-year-old son was arrested by DSS last year. They said he was part of an online cult group. I didn’t even know he had Telegram. He told me, ‘Daddy, everyone in my class is there. If you don’t join, they’ll bully you and call you a small boy.’ Social media turned peer pressure into peer recruitment. I wish I had installed controls earlier. Parents need to wake up. This is not ‘children will be children’ again.
“Some people say it’s just content. Just content! But that ‘just content’ is misleading children into immorality. Parents must apply parental control tools. The phone is not a toy. It’s a classroom where children learn all sorts of unholy acts.”
Temitope Balogun, a child psychologist based in Lagos, explains why children are so vulnerable.
“Between ages 10-18, the adolescent brain is still wiring its reward system. Social media platforms are designed to trigger dopamine – likes, views, and shares. When a child sees immoral content, the brain doesn’t process it as ‘wrong’. It processes it as ‘rewarding’. That’s why a 12-year-old can watch drug videos and feel no fear. They lack impulse control and long-term thinking.
“Immoral content misleads children in three ways: it normalises what should be abnormal, it creates false heroes out of criminals, and it erodes empathy. A child who watches sex theft videos daily begins to see girls as objects, not humans. A child who sees cult videos sees violence as status.
“Parents need to apply parental control tools not because they don’t trust their children, but because they understand child development. You won’t leave a 10-year-old to cross Ojuelegba highway alone. Don’t leave them to cross the internet highway alone either.”
Irene Igwe, a councillor stressed that this is not a call to shut down the internet, noting that social media has given Nigerian youths jobs, education, and a voice, and warned that freedom without guardrails is chaos.
“Parents must talk, supervise, and use tools. Talk to your children about what they watch. Supervise phone use – no phones in bedrooms at night. Use parental controls, but don’t rely on them alone.
“Government must enforce the Code of Practice and pass the Child Online Protection Bill quickly. Platforms must do more than “community guidelines”. They must hire Nigerian moderators who understand local slang and context.
“Society must stop clapping for clout. When you share videos of children smoking, fighting, or engaging in sex acts, you become distributors of poison.”
She revealed that in traditional Nigeria, a child was raised by the village. Today, the village is digital. If the village elders were drug dealers, cultists, and pornographers, what kind of children would we have?
Igwe emphasised that the smartphone in a child’s hand is not just a device, describing it as a teacher, a friend, a gang leader, and urged parents, government, and platforms to take responsibility.
An IT expert in Abuja, Emeka Nwosu, explains how parental controls work and why kids bypass them.
“Most phones and routers have built-in controls. On Android, Google Family Link lets parents block apps, set screen time, and filter content. On iPhone, Screen Time does the same. Routers like TP-Link have ‘Parental Controls’ where you can block categories, gambling, adult content, and drugs. The system uses DNS filtering. When your child types any immoral website, the router will state ‘no access.’
“VPNs hide your IP address, but they don’t make you invisible. Tech-savvy kids use these tricks. They download free VPN apps from unknown developers that actually steal data and use ‘browser-based VPNs’ inside Chrome or Opera Miniand they switch to platforms with no age verification, like Telegram or Discord.
“But most parents don’t know that VPNs can be blocked. Modern parental control apps like Qustodio, Bark, or even Google Family Link can detect VPN usage and alert you. The real issue is not the tech. It’s supervision. No app replaces a parent who checks the phone occasionally and talks to the child.”
In addition, the Nigerian government on its Code of Practice and Takedowns and under the 2022 Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms issued by NITDA, NCC, and NBC, stated that platforms must remove unlawful content within 24 hours of notice from an authorised government agency.
In the 2024 compliance report, Nigeria announced the deactivation of 13.5 million social media accounts and removal of 58.9 million posts across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The experts and concerned citizens have requested a repeat of that action to sensitise and scrutinise unregulated content.
The Child Online Access Protection Bill HB.244 has passed the House of Representatives and is before the Senate. If signed, it will mandate platforms to block violent or exploitative content, penalise online grooming, and create an “E-Commissioner” to monitor violations.
Similarly, on March 10, 2026, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, launched public consultations on possible age limits for social media use. The government is considering minimum age requirements, stronger age-verification systems, and increased platform accountability.
Tijani warned: “While the Internet provides opportunities for learning, it also exposes young users to risks such as cyberbullying, harmful content, online exploitation.”
Also, the Lagos State Government, through the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, has warned content creators that depicting children in harmful or sexual content violates the Child’s Rights Law 2015 and Cybercrimes Act. Offenders risk criminal prosecution.
