EFCC warns: Nigerian youths in rat race for fraudulent wealth

Many Nigerian youths are enmeshed in the rat race for unearned wealth through fraudulent online operations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned stakeholders.

A statement titled “EFCC Decries Youths’ Involvement in Cybercrime in Lagos” was released on Friday, revealing this information.

Ahmed Ghali, the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, made this statement at a seminar titled “The Role of the Boy Child in Community Development and Safety,” which was hosted by the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC).
He voiced his worry over the nation’s youth engagement in cybercrime.

Alleged Criminal Involvement of Youths
Ghali claims that a lot of young people have sacrificed their futures for the sake of too ambitious goals.
“Many youths are not only amoral, but have also become lost in the rat race for unearned riches through fraudulent online activities,” he continued.
Even while the students’ ambitions are lovely, Ghali said, they could be doomed from the beginning if they don’t adopt a culture of honesty and discipline.
The explanation is obvious: a growing number of young people are turning to antisocial behaviors that can disturb the peace, hurt others, or harm the environment. In addition to the well-known antisocial behaviors, many young people today engage in cyber fraud as a hobby, he continued.

He remarked that a lot of young people in Nigeria today have an unquenchable drive to use the internet to earn money and grow financially, but he also pointed out that the majority’s strategy has been flawed.
You can improve your financial situation and help your community grow if you use the internet responsibly. But, if you decide to utilize the internet for illegal activities, you will endanger not just your innocent victims but also your own objectives.

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Instead of wasting their time and energy on schemes that defraud innocent people and organizations, he suggested that young people focus their energy and inventiveness into investigating respectable online revenue streams.
More Details
According to Prince Samuel Olaoluwa Akintoye, Chairman of the PCRC, Bode Thomas Division/Organizing Secretary, Area C Command, Surulere, Lagos State, the initiative’s goal is to raise a generation of morally upright, responsible, and patriotic youth who will not only better their own lives but also advance Nigerian society.
He emphasised that the initiative’s goal is to offer a worthwhile chance to involve stakeholders and offer advice on negotiating the challenging routes to achieving their goals.
He believed that young people should consider how they might help their communities grow.
The statement said that among other people, Chief Alaka Yusuf Lukman Owolabi, President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Lagos, and Prof. (Mrs.) Aderonke Lawal-Are, Director of the University of Lagos’ Centre for General Studies/Department of Marine Sciences, graced the occasion.
Important Information
This incident follows months after the EFCC warned Nigerians about intelligence showing that online scammers are now carrying firearms and committing crimes like ritual killings.

Additionally, the Commission noted that the actions of online scammers are growing more and more dangerous for public security and safety.

According to intelligence, these criminals are armed and have engaged in ritual killings, banditry, kidnapping, and other grave crimes. “The public should not give up or let themselves be tricked into believing they are just ‘Yahoo boys and girls,'” the EFCC had said.

The anti-graft organization had issued the warning while lamenting the death of one of its officers, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE11 Aminu Sahabi Harisu, who was allegedly killed in cold blood on January 17, 2025, while performing official duties while pursuing Joshua Chukwubueze Ikechukwu, a suspected online fraudster.