The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, says there is a new association in Nigeria backing cybercriminals.
The EFCC boss claims the association was formed by mothers of internet scammers, popularly known as Yahoo Boys.
Magu stated this at the commission’s Lagos Office at the ongoing EFCC stakeholders conference on a crusade against cybercrime fraudsters.
He said such parents always justify their children’s activities with the arguments that they were supporting their families in the place of irresponsible, runaway or dead fathers.
Magu said the EFCC’s interest was not just to arrest the Yahoo boys but also to see to their rehabilitation.
According to the anti-graft agency, the Lagos Office had made 300 cybercrime-related arrests since January and had secured 200 convictions.
WuzupNigeria reports that a recent crackdown on cybercrimes by the EFCC and, at times, the FBI has led to the arrest of many celebrities involved in online fraud. Notable among them are Forbes celebrated Obinwanne Okeke who was arrested by the FBI for $11m Wire Fraud. He has since been remanded in a US prison until February 2020.
Also arrested was self-styled Dubai-based big boy, Ismaila Mustapha, better known as Mompha. Mompha was arrested by the EFCC on 18 October 2019. His arrest has led to the arrest of a Lebanese and two unnamed individuals.
