EFCC says mothers of ‘Yahoo Boys’ have formed an association

Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu, is lamenting that mothers of suspected internet fraudsters (popularly referred to as Yahoo Boys in street parlance) have formed an association to burnish the reputation of their children and provide them ample moral support.

“We are looking at how we can rehabilitate the Yahoo Boys; these are young boys, who have graduated, who are in the university. We want to see how we can sensitise them; how we can make them know that the Yahoo Yahoo business is wrong,” Magu said during an interactive session with stakeholders in Lagos on Thursday, October 31, 2019.

“And we are also appealing to their mothers. The parents of these children, they have actually formed an association of Yahoo Yahoo Mothers’ Association – Yes; they are there – Association of Mothers of Yahoo Yahoo Boys.

Nigerian internet fraudsters dubbed "Yahoo Boys" post fake profiles on gay dating sites then force the victim to pay money for their silence (AFP) ece-auto-gen

“Some of them will say the father did not do anything; these boys came, demolished the house and put up a new structure. If you see the cars that we have recovered, you will think that we are in the car business. These are all Yahoo Yahoo. All brands of cars – Jaguar, Rolls Royce,” Magu added.

Auctioning Diezani's jewelry

Magu also said some of the proceeds of corruption, especially those retrieved from the homes of former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, will be auctioned at the right price.

“We want to make sure that there’s transparency in the process. Like what we’re doing now in Port Harcourt. There are about 242 trailers and tankers that we are about auctioning. In fact, in the next two weeks, we will auction them. We will advertise, you will see it very clearly,” he said.

“The idea of selling recovered proceed of crime for peanuts is bad. This time around, we are not going to tolerate it.

Nigeria's former minister of petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke addresses delegates at the opening of the Nigeira Oil & Gas 2014 conference in Abuja, March 18, 2014, REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde ece-auto-gen

“The era of auctioning forfeited properties at gross devalued prices is gone. We are going to do everything possible to know the real value of any forfeited property and we will invite professionals and merchants in the area to tell us the actual prices and the current worth and go back to the court to give a reasonable price for every forfeited property before auctioning it.

“I want us to involve everybody…we have to involve the courts, the Federal Ministry of Justice, Department of Petroleum Resources and maybe the army, in whose premises these things are kept. We have to be very transparent.

EFCC officials arrest suspected yahoo boys in Owerri (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

“Even the houses, there are auctioneers coming from outside the country who are internationally acclaimed and accredited auctioneers. For instance, the jewellery we recovered from Diezani, we need to bring in international auctioneers because these are things that are bought from abroad. We’ll get in touch with the manufacturers, with people who are in charge of these things,” Magu said.

The EFCC has been working with international law enforcement like the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the International Police (Interpol) to rein-in alleged cyber criminals who have sullied Nigeria's reputation for decades.