Forty-nine persons have been apprehended by operatives of the Abuja Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged cybercrime.
The suspects, who were within ages 19 and 32, were arrested in a sting in various homes at Navy Estate, Cajaah-Orozo, a suburb of Abuja, following credible intelligence on their alleged criminal activities.
Among items seized from them include over fifty mobile phones of different brands, fifteen laptops and a Lexus ES330 salon.
The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigations are concluded.
“Yahoo yahoo” is a Nigerian parlance for internet fraud which has gained currency in the country as access to the internet became prevalent.
Of Nigeria’s 214million population, 109million have access to the internet. While this seems like cheery statistics, it’s also an opportunity for crime in various digital forms by those who desire “shap shap” wealth.
From the various arrests and convictions made by the EFCC so far, it shows the crime is nowhere near extinction. If anything at all, it is on the rise.
The government enacted Cybercrime Act 2015, a law that is expected to put a check on the growing crime rate.
But strangely, in spite of a number of convictions under this Act and the penal code, young men and women are still plunging into the business.
Nigeria loses about N127 billion yearly to internet fraud, an amount which represents 0.08% `of Nigeria’s gross domestic product, a report has revealed.
The report also shows that the global yearly cost of cybercrime reached $6 trillion at the end of 2021.