Nigeria now faces a cybercrime crisis driven by politically exposed persons and cryptocurrency fuelling internet fraud, known locally as “Yahoo Yahoo,” according to Ola Olukoyede, Executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Speaking in a video posted on the EFCC’s official X account, Olukoyede says the trend has moved beyond individual scammers to a national emergency threatening Nigeria’s economy and international reputation.
“I want Nigerians to know that we are having a crisis on our hands. It’s actually a crisis situation,” Olukoyede says in the video.
“When they steal government money, billions now, they give it to all these boys. They open cryptocurrency wallet, crypto wallet, and they put the money there. From there, the money goes abroad,” Olukoyede says, adding that, “You can buy a house, you can buy vehicles and buy anything with your Bitcoin.”
EFCC: Yahoo boys laundering billions for politically exposed persons
The EFCC Chairman alleges that some young Nigerians involved in internet fraud are now laundering stolen public funds for high-ranking officials.
“Some of them now, they launder money for the politically exposed persons. So don’t see them as young boys anymore. The traditional way of stealing money is no longer applicable,” Olukoyede says in the video seen by Technology Times.
He alleges that proceeds of government corruption are now being transferred into cryptocurrency wallets to bypass conventional financial systems.
“When they steal government money, billions now, they give it to all these boys. They open cryptocurrency wallet, crypto wallet, and they put the money there. From there, the money goes abroad,” Olukoyede says, adding that, “You can buy a house, you can buy vehicles and buy anything with your Bitcoin.”
According to Olukoyede, some politically exposed persons now house these young men in hotels, create foreign exchange accounts for them, and split the proceeds of cybercrime and money laundering with the internet fraudsters.
“They put them in hotels and they open accounts for them. They share this money among them. They change it to dollars and they move it abroad,” he says.
“If you go to the secondary school that I attended, by 12 noon, the students have left school. In secondary school, you see them in hotels. In hotels, in groups, trying to scam people,” Olukoyede says.
Yahoo Yahoo: Rising youth involvement, ritual killings and social impact
The EFCC Chairman raises alarm over the growing involvement of secondary school students in cybercrime activities.
“If you go to the secondary school that I attended, by 12 noon, the students have left school. In secondary school, you see them in hotels. In hotels, in groups, trying to scam people,” Olukoyede says.
“You see secondary school students driving vehicles. Is that what those people want to hand over the data to? Is that the nation we want to build?” he asks.
Olukoyede also alleges that some internet fraudsters are involved in ritual killings, which the EFCC says it has documented.
Billions in fraud and a reputation crisis
The EFCC Chairman says the image of the country has been significantly affected abroad due to the activities of internet fraudsters.
“I wonder today if you travel abroad with your green passport, you will discover that by the time you present your green passport, the people will look at you with disaffection. That’s if they don’t take you aside to carry out special scrutiny on you,” Olukoyede says.
“That is a national shame that some young Nigerians have imposed upon us,” he adds.
“Let us inculcate that idea that there is dignity in labour, in their sense, in their mind. So that they will know that we are going to work for what we earn legitimately,” he adds.
EFCC calls for national support
Olukoyede is urging the Nigerian public to support the anti-corruption agency’s work and assist in redirecting young Nigerians towards legitimate livelihoods.
“So let Nigeria support us. Let them work with us. Let us save the lives of these young ones. Let’s help them,” he says.
“Let us inculcate that idea that there is dignity in labour, in their sense, in their mind. So that they will know that we are going to work for what we earn legitimately,” he adds.
The EFCC has consistently warned that the use of digital platforms for cybercrime poses a serious challenge to law enforcement, a concern seen in past reports by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) identifies illicit financial flows through cryptocurrencies and informal money transfer systems as a critical weakness in the country’s anti-money laundering regime.
In its 2022 National Inherent Risk Assessment, the NFIU finds that Nigeria’s high volume of peer-to-peer crypto trading and cash-based informal remittances makes the country vulnerable to criminal exploitation.
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