NEWS EXTRA: What prominent Nigerians, bankers, students say as Nigerian youths take up cybercrime, Yahoo plus
By-Oke Orhonigbe
Cyber-crime has, in recent times, become a popular form of social deviance, especially among youths in Nigeria. Some social institutions and individuals inthe country have inadvertently encouraged these perpetuators, by accepting the monies they donate without questioning the source.
In the local parlance, these guys are now called “yahoo yahoo” referring to the activities which is usually perpetrated via the internet, with the use of computers, phones and other devices to defraud unsuspecting victims, within and outside the country.
Those involved in this crime are called “yahoo boys”, and with the increasing popularity of Gmail services and use, another name emerged, the “G boys”. When they experienced a reduction in the number of victims, some of them went a step further to add the use of black-magic powers to hypnotise unsuspecting people into falling prey. This group is now called the “yahoo plus boys” or the “G-plus boys”.
The rising popularity of cyber-crime may not be unconnected to the fact that Nigeria is experiencing economic turbulence with high unemployment statistics among able-bodied youths, increasing inflation, erosion of traditional values of integrity, and quick-money syndrome.
Cyber-crime is supposedly done for financial gains, and given the situation in the country, it could be termed wishful thinking to expect the pain-pleasure approach to put an end to this menace.
Studies have shown that some youths are influenced by their friends ,other scholars suggest that involvement in the crime is not necessarily influenced by socio-economic status of parents as children of the haves and have-nots have been equally arrested and prosecuted for involvement in cybercrime.
This suggests that if what pushes the poor into committing cyber crime is the monetary gain, children of the rich are being attracted by other factors aside financial gratification. The traditional African values frown at illegality, especially stealing. The Yoruba adage that goes kaka ki n ja le, ma kuku seru, (I will rather become a slave than steal), is a pointer to the fact that in older times, stealing of any sort was unacceptable to society
But in modern times, crimes such as cyber fraud and Internet robbery are pronounced, and proceeds of such crimes are warmly received by social institutions. The traditional values of integrity and honour have been replaced by the monetary gains. With this erosion of values and concomitant political uncertainty, economic turmoil, high rate of youth unemployment and underemployment, it is unlikely that there will be a complete stop in cyber crime in the country.
Some persons involved in this act have legitimate occupations but also get involved in the act when they see opportunity in cyber crime, particularly among young people in Nigeria. The crime has continued to gain popularity as many young people are becoming attracted to it. In fact, many youths in several states have embraced cyber crime as a way of life and a means of improving their economic condition, especially as unemployment rate continues to soar.
This notion is vividly captioned in the opinion of a Yahoo boy who spoke on the ground of anonymity, “Because the word Yahoo boys or fraudsters is bad shouldn’t mean that everyone who is into it is bad, I cater for myself and I help others around me too. That I’m into Yahoo doesn’t make me a bad person, after all our system of government is wacked. if we don’t help ourselves, the President would not, he would only end up saying “Nigeria youths are lazy”. This is what our hands have found us doing, so we’ll keep on doing it”.
But does the end justify the means? A seasoned banker who pleaded anonymity disclosed that robbery in the banks has reduced since the emergence of “Yahoo boys. However, he agreed that they are cybercriminals, he said “we cannot cast them down fully. Before the inception of these boys, banks experience not less than 8-10 robbery situation in a year, sometimes successful, other times, they are unlucky.”
Similarly, Evans Akpos, a young Cryto boss and forex trader, has said Yahoo boys is an offshoot of a country led by criminals (politicians) who have left the citizens to survive whichever way they can.”Yahoo boys have done so many harm to our society and are still doing. But some still do good. ,I’m not in support of them but I’m also not blind to the failed system in our country”,he said.
In the same vein, another cyber fraudster who prefers to be called anonymous, stated that “Scamming people of their hard earned money is bad. Sometime it’s heartbreaking. It’s not really a good idea but it is unavoidable as a result of how our country is treating us. No jobs.
“It’s not just about scamming foreigners. Our politicians are scammers too. They make fake promises and when they are elected, their belly becomes their god, everybody in one way or the other scams people.The basic fact is we scam people to survive and our government is to blame for this”.
Erike David, a banker, added that “we as humans are bound to feel intimidated sometimes, but in the words of Apostle Joshua Selman “wealth without a track record is useless”. These boys have wealth without a thorough process, I can equally say they have done evil to society”.
Research has shown that some of the boys use the money gotten from cybercrime to run charity organizations, donate to church buildings, buy exotic cars for their pastors, they even pay tithes and give offerings. But a pastor of a Pentecostal church, Ibe Osuji, condemned the act. He said any money gotten from fraud cannot be accepted by God. He said God condemns fraud, so paying tithe or offering with stolen money is not acceptable to God. He advised youths to get engaged in legitimate business.
Another popular Yahoo boy, who spoke to Emerald News on anonymity disclosed that “yahoo yahoo” has made a lot of young folks give up on their core dreams in life.
“Without argument, this system has helped a few persons, girls too, to achieve their dreams, place them on its pedestal, but it has swayed a higher percentage out of the their dreams. A good number of persons have changed their focus”, the Yahoo boss said. He advised parents to guide their children right as cybercrime is only for a temporal satisfaction but it’s negative effect far outweighs the gains.
