The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has decried the national shame brought on the country by the activities of internet fraudsters, popularly known as yahoo-yahoo boys.
During a media briefing on Monday at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, the anti-graft agency’s boss described the situation as “a crisis on our hands”.
He lamented the difficulty with which he tries to defend the country’s youths before his counterparts and other government agencies abroad in the course of tracing money and recovering assets.
Expounding further on the atrocities of the fraudsters, the EFCC chairman stressed that they are involved in banditry and kidnapping when their unsuspecting victims do not cooperate.
He also noted that they were involved in laundering money for politically-exposed persons in government or out of government.
He explained further that when these politically-exposed persons steal money in billions, they give it to these boys, who open crypto wallets, and from there, the money goes abroad.
“Most of these politically exposed persons identify these boys, lodge them in the hotel, the boys open accounts for them and take the money abroad to buy cars, houses and other luxury items”, he said, and urged Nigerians to see them beyond just yahoo-yahoo.
Olukoyede disclosed that the commission recently arrested a 22-year-old who had a turnover of over N5bn within 18 months. According to him, it was discovered that he laundered money for politically exposed people.
“A boy who has never worked in his life. They used them to steal government money now. They do ritual killings. They are also involved in cybercrime. You see them in hotels and in groups trying to scam people. You see secondary school students driving vehicles. Are those the people we want to hand Nigeria over to? Is that the nation we want to build?” he lamented.
He said it is sad that young people neither have respect for education nor believe in the dignity of labour and hard work.
“I’m from a state where education is our pride. If you go to the secondary school that I attended, by 12 noon, the students have left school,” he said.
The EFCC chairman emphasised the need to uphold professionalism and integrity in the fight against corruption, adding that the EFCC’s workforce would turn out to be a critical mass of honest, highly motivated and effective people.
