Juliana Francis
Most hotel rooms in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Asaba in Delta State, have become outrageously exorbitant due to high patronage of suspected fraudsters, otherwise known as Yahoo boys in local parlance, says the spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren.
The spokesman made this assertion today during a one-day workshop organised by the EFCC on Financial Crimes Reporting, held at EFCC’s Lagos Office on Thursday 13th, 2023 for selected journalists.
According to Uwujaren, the EFCC will not rest on its oar in tackling cybercrime, stressing that more labourers like journalists and members of the public were needed to fight the scourge.
Uwujaren said that the need for more Nigerians to join in the war against cybercrime and for them to understand the new money laundering laws was part of what necessitated the workshop for the journalists.
He added that the Commission will continue to carry out such training and workshops, knowing that beneficiary journalists will in turn, educate the Nigerian populace not just in knowing and understanding financial laws, but also to collectively check cybercrime, if not completely eradicate it.
Wilson explained that he got knowledge of how cyber-fraud had eaten deep into the fabrics of Kwara and Delta states, when some officials of the commission went to both states, with the intention of training journalists on Financial Crime Reporting, and discovered that they could not get a room because hotel rooms were steep.
He also said that not only were most hotels booked and occupied by these suspected fraudsters, but because of their sudden penchant for occupying hotel rooms and throwing money around, such hotel rooms had become very exorbitant.
His words: “EFCC is shifting from enforcement to prevention. We went to Ilorin in Kwara state and Asaba, Delta State and we couldn’t get a room because these boys had made it to become so expensive.
“It has become clear that EFCC cannot do it alone, under the SCUML law, hoteliers are supposed to be part of those fighting money laundering crime by documenting information about their customers and reporting to the EFCC when necessary. The media has to complement the efforts of the EFCC.”
He noted that one of the ways for Nigerians to join in fighting and curbing cybercrime, was for Nigerians to stop falling prey by, “ using your brains while transacting online or whenever you’re online. We all cannot wipe criminality totally, but we can minimise it.”
