EFCC ranks Oyo highest in internet fraud, cyber crime

TRACKING >>South-West Zonal Head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Friday Ebelo, yesterday disclosed that Oyo State had the highest record of arrested Internet fraudsters and cyber criminals in the South-West, noting that “many of them operate in Lagos but hide here in Ibadan where we get them arrested.”
Ebelo, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman of the commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, made the disclosure at the commission’s Iyaganku headquarters in Ibadan during a press chat with journalists on activities of the anti-graft body since the beginning of the year.
He said that many of the “Yahoo Yahoo” suspects and convicts are youth between the age of 18 and 39. Many of them are operating in Lagos State, but hide here in Oyo State. We don’t detain females among them because we don’t have space for them. I grant them bail and when they are to go to court, we take them there along with the males. Some of them are girl friends of the Yahoo yahoo boys,” he said.
Ebelo, who was flanked by his deputy, Mr. Bright Ileleke, Mr. Richard Adejumo (Head, Admin), Jide Jegede (Head, Public Affairs), used the occasion to appeal to parents and guardians in the society to keep eagle eyes on the kind of lifestyle their children and wards lived wherever they were.
He said: “Most of the suspects we are bringing in are young persons whose future should be positively moulded. Our parents should pay unscheduled visits to them in schools. If they are sending money to them via bank accounts, they should be wary of who withdraws it, lest their wards fall into implicating circumstances.
“EFCC does not have agents that collect any money or rent from anybody on its behalf. It is an established fact that some unscrupulous elements impersonate the commission’s officials in order to scam innocent people in the society. We have received reports of some houses being marked overnight and the owners wake up in the morning to see such and come to report at our offices. People should be wary of such fraudsters. If you get wind of anybody claiming to be agent of EFCC, please report to us and we will get such people arrested.”