During a recent interview, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, raised serious concerns about the evolving tactics of internet fraudsters in Nigeria. He described the current situation as a “crisis” and warned that Yahoo Boys, once known for online scams targeting foreigners, are now being used by politically exposed persons to steal government money.
“It’s actually a crisis situation,” Olukoyede stated, expressing frustration over how young Nigerians have given the country a bad reputation globally. “If you travel abroad with the green [Nigerian] passport, you will discover that by the time you present your new passport, the people will look at you with observation. That’s if they don’t take you aside. That is a national shame that some young Nigerians have caused for us.”
The EFCC chairman highlighted how this reputation makes it harder for Nigerian officials to secure foreign cooperation in financial recovery and asset tracing. “I go out to interact with my counterparts abroad… and there are things that it will be difficult for you to defend,” he said.
Olukoyede revealed that just two days before the interview, the EFCC had arrested over 120 young Nigerians linked to cybercrimes. He lamented the growing trend of young people abandoning education and honest work in favour of quick money through fraud.
“People don’t believe in hard work anymore,” he said. “I am from a state where education is our pride… If you go to the secondary school that I attended now, by 12, the students have left school.”
He painted a troubling picture of Nigerian students, some in secondary school, already involved in fraud. “In secondary school, you see them in hotels, in groups, trying to scam people. You see secondary school students driving vehicles,” he said. “Is that those people want to run over to? Is that the nation we want to build?”
Olukoyede did not stop at cybercrime. He described how many of these Yahoo Boys are now being used by politicians to launder government funds using sophisticated tools like cryptocurrency wallets.
“The traditional way of stealing money is no longer applicable. When they steal government money in billions now, they give it to all these boys. They open cryptocurrency wallet… and they put the money there. From there the money goes abroad. They can buy a house, vehicles and anything with bitcoin.”
He added, “Most of these politically exposed persons now identify these boys. They put them in hotels and they open accounts for them. They share this money among them. They change it to dollar and move it abroad.”
As part of his revelations, Olukoyede shared the shocking case of a 22-year-old boy arrested by the EFCC who had over N5 billion in his account within just 18 months.
“Within 18 months, we saw a total of over N5 billion in his account. A young boy has never worked in his life… Over N5 billion,” he stressed. According to him, the boy was working for a politically exposed person who is now under investigation.
“The guy is one of our facility,” he added, referring to EFCC custody.
He warned that this kind of laundering should not be excused simply because the fraudster is young. “So now when you see them, you say he’s just a young boy, and then you leave them, it’s just Oyibo that he is scamming $10. It’s a major crisis. They use them to steal government money now, mostly.”
Beyond online fraud and laundering, Olukoyede raised alarm over how some of these fraudsters are now getting involved in ritual killings, kidnapping, and banditry.
“Some of them are into banditry. Some into kidnapping. Yes, because when they know they don’t see people who scam on time, they go to kidnap,” he said. “It is there. It is in the news. People know.”
He added that these Yahoo Boys are also involved in rituals using young girls and shocking objects for charm. He gave an example from EFCC exhibits: “If you get to one of my offices, in my exhibit room now, you’ll see a black pot that we have there with human hair… forensic evidence has proven it was human hair.”
According to him, “These are the people Nigerians are saying ‘leave them’. As a matter of fact what they are doing is not just Yahoo. They are also involved in mega cybercrime.”
Olukoyede stressed that these criminal activities go far beyond individual scams. They now damage Nigeria’s economy, hurt the value of the naira, and destroy the country’s reputation internationally.
“Not only that it damages our economy internally, it damages our reputation outside the country,” he said. “If we had started it five years ago and sustained it, perhaps we would not be able to eradicate it to this level of extent.”
Despite the challenges, the EFCC chairman made it clear that his commission is determined to act. “We are resolute. We are very much resolute to nip it in the bud and to bring it to the end, and we are going to do that.”
Olukoyede appealed to Nigerians to support the EFCC’s work and help young people return to the values of dignity in labour and legitimate earnings.
“Let Nigerians work with us. Let us help the life of our young ones. Let us think about the idea that there is dignity in labor,” he pleaded.
He added that the fight is not just for law enforcement agencies, but for the entire nation. “So that they will know that we have to work for what we earn legitimately, so that they can live a moderate lifestyle, and build a nation.”
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This powerful statement by the EFCC chairman sheds light on the changing face of cybercrime in Nigeria. It also reveals the high-level corruption links and calls for urgent collaboration between the government, parents, schools, and communities.