Nigeria, Sept. 20 -- In January, I visited a cousin and witnessed something awkward, yet fascinating. There was a power outage in the house, yet her younger brother my cousin too was enjoying his pastime. "Check those guys, clear them, shoot on sight," he kept urging his online partners. Then I asked his sister, "Who is he talking to?"

The sister revealed he was playing 'Call of Duty Mobile' on his mobile device. "He completely forgets we are here when he starts playing that game," she said.

This was not my first time learning of 'Call of Duty Mobile,' but until then, I never realised how strong the hold this mobile game had on young Nigerians.

Call of Duty Mobile (CoDM) is a military shooting game played on smartphones. It is free to ...