Internet scammers, also referred to as “yahoo-yahoo boys,” are bringing humiliation to the nation, according to Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
At the agency’s Abuja headquarters on Monday, Olukoyede informed the media of this.
He claims that Yahoo-Yahoo guys have made it possible for all Nigerians to seem clean to immigration officials worldwide.”I want Nigerians to understand that we are facing a serious problem. If you travel overseas with your green passport and find yourself in a long line of people, you will find that the immigration authorities will be wary of you by the time you show them your passport. That is, if they don’t separate you to do a more thorough examination. Some young Nigerians (yahoo-yahoo lads) have brought shame to our country.
“I go out to interact with my counterpart and other government agencies abroad in the course of tracing money and recovering assets. And there are things that it would be difficult for you to defend. We recently arrested groups of young men, and people no longer believe in 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.
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.
The most hazardous part of it is that some of these individuals are involved in kidnapping and banditry, so it’s not just about yahoo-yahoo. They turn to these vices when they fail to spot potential scammers in time. For those who are politically exposed, some of them launder money. They are no longer merely yahoo-yahoo boys; the old-fashioned method of stealing money is no longer relevant.
When they (politically exposed individuals) take billions of dollars’ worth of money, they transfer it to these youngsters, who then open cryptocurrency wallets and send the money overseas. The majority of these politically exposed people find these guys, host them in hotels, and then have the lads open accounts and transfer the money overseas to purchase luxury goods like homes, automobiles, and other things.
“Nigerians should look at them beyond just yahoo-yahoo. We arrested a 22-year-old; he had a turnover of over N5 billion within 18 months. We 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?”
Recall that in May, Olukoyede said that upon his assumption in office, his agency had recovered over N365.4bn and secured 4,111 convictions in 2024.
He disclosed this in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, at the end of a three-day Retreat for Directors with the theme “EFCC: The Journey So Far, Ensuring Professionalism and Integrity.”
Olukoyede, in a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, attributed the feat achieved to the commitment, sacrifices and dedication of staff, promising to surpass the record in 2025.
The commission obtained 4,111 convictions and recovered more than N365.4 billion in 2024. The announcement added, “The head of the EFCC expressed gratitude for the sacrifice, diligence, and discipline, and urged more commitment to surpass the 2024 records and to the integrity of the agency’s processes.”
The EFCC’s personnel will prove to be a critical mass of honest, highly motivated, and effective team members, the chairman added, underscoring the need of maintaining professionalism and integrity in the battle against corruption.
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