The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, has warned that the fight against internet fraud, popularly known as Yahoo Yahoo, is far from over in Nigeria. Speaking during a recent interview, he revealed a worrying rise in cybercrime activities among Nigerian youths and the evolving methods being used to commit fraud and launder money.
Olukoyede began by addressing criticism that the EFCC only targets petty fraudsters while ignoring powerful individuals stealing billions. He explained that this notion is misleading, noting, “That people often accuse EFCC… There are people who are stealing mega money. But you are not seeing them. The only people that you can run after is Yahoo Yahoo. I want Nigerians to know that we are having crisis on our hands.”
He described the current state as a national crisis, explaining how the activities of fraudsters are damaging Nigeria’s global image. “If you travel abroad with the green (Nigerian) passport… the people will look at you with observation. That is a national shame that some young Nigerians have caused for us.”
The EFCC chairman revealed that the scale of internet fraud is getting out of hand, saying, “Just two days ago, we arrested over 120 Nigerians, young men. People don’t believe in hard work anymore.” He expressed deep concern about how young people are abandoning education for a life of crime. “By 12, the students have left school… In secondary school, you see them in hotels, in groups, trying to scam people.”
Olukoyede painted a grim picture of how advanced these fraud rings have become. He noted that many young people are no longer just committing email scams; they are now involved in money laundering, cybercrime, and even violent crimes like kidnapping and ritual killings. “Maybe some of them are into banditry. Some into kidnapping… Some of them now launder money for the politically exposed persons.”
One of the shocking revelations from the interview was the case of a 22-year-old boy who had over ₦5 billion in his bank account within just 18 months. “A young boy has never worked in his life… Turnover. So we brought him. That money is for politically exposed people,” Olukoyede explained, adding that the suspect is still in EFCC custody as investigations continue.
The EFCC boss went on to explain how stolen government funds are moved using digital methods, including cryptocurrency wallets. “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 explained how these fraudsters are being sponsored and used by politically exposed persons to hide stolen public funds.
According to him, these corrupt individuals “put them in hotel and they open accounts for them. They share this money among them. They change it to dollar and they move it abroad.”
Highlighting the connection between internet fraud and other dangerous practices, he said, “A lot of them do rituals… they use all these our young girls to do ritual killing. 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.”
Olukoyede warned that the public should stop seeing Yahoo boys as just harmless internet scammers. “What they are doing is not just Yahoo. They are also involved in mega cybercrime… It’s a major crisis. They use them to steal government money now, mostly.”
He stressed that if a public official had such a huge amount of money in their account, there would be national outrage. “If you see that in the account of a director or a minister, are you not going to cry? Are you not going to shout that this is too much?”
The EFCC boss emphasized that the agency is committed to tackling the issue. He noted that if the fight had started five years ago and was sustained, the country might not be in its current situation. He said, “Our commitment to this cause… if we had started it by 5 years ago and sustained it, perhaps we would not be able to eradicate it to this level of extent.”
He concluded by calling on Nigerians to support the EFCC in its mission. “Let Nigerians work with us. Let us help the life of our young ones… 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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