Operatives
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested 37
suspected yahoo boys and recovered 25 exotic cars in Owerri, Imo State.
The arrest
followed a raid on some targeted homes in Okwu
Urata, Aladinma and Egbu areas.
The EFCC
spokesman, Tony Orilade, said that the Commission’s action followed intelligence
report which pointed that the suspects were living lavish lifestyles without
any known means of livelihood. It was further alleged that the suspects specialized in defrauding unsuspecting victims,
through the internet.
Orilade said: “In
the course of executing the search warrants, items which included laptop computers, 25 five exotic cars, which include several brands of Mercedez-Benz, Lexus, Toyota and expensive mobile phones, were recovered.”
The Zonal Head
in Imo State, Usman Imam, who said the exercise was in line with the Commission’s mandate decried
the high rate of cybercrime in the zone which he blamed on the erosion
and breakdown of country’s values.
Imam said:
“It is true that no society has been able to totally eradicate
crime, but we are ready at least to reduce it to the barest minimum.
It appears that this cybercrime is one of the challenges of our time, which the
EFCC is willing to face drastically.”
Questioning the
lifestyle of the suspects, Imam said; “What is the
business of a university student, a new graduate or youth corper looking for money
to buy a car of N10 million? Obviously, this is rushing life and a collapse of
our positive value system where people rarely want to start from a humble
beginning.”
Imam lamented that
if nothing was done, the country’s leadership could be jeopardized as
many youths involved in cybercrimes were expected to
take up leadership positions in the future.
The suspects, who
volunteered their statements under caution will be charged to court as soon
investigations into the matter are
concluded.
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