The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede, has lamented the rising involvement of Nigerian university students in cybercrime, noting that about six out of every 10 undergraduates are engaged in internet fraud.
Daily Trust reports on Tuesday that Olukoyede stated this at the 8th Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities held in Kano.
The EFCC Boss described the trend as alarming and a threat to the country’s future, stressing that the development reflects deeper structural issues within the university system, including weak oversight and administrative vulnerabilities.
“My research in the last one year has shown that about six out of 10 students in our universities are into cybercrime. It is a very disturbing situation,” he said.
He noted that findings from investigations and field operations by the commission revealed that students constitute a large number of suspects arrested for cyber-related offences, with some allegedly going as far as placing lecturers on their payroll to compromise academic processes.
The EFCC boss cited a recent operation in Lagos where 792 suspects linked to a transnational cybercrime syndicate were arrested, adding that a significant number of those apprehended were undergraduates.
Olukoyede also expressed concern over the growing trend of “Yahoo Plus,” where internet fraud is combined with fetish practices, warning that the phenomenon poses both moral and security risks.
He however called on university authorities and governing councils to take urgent steps to curb the menace by strengthening institutional controls and collaborating with law enforcement agencies.
“A university that lacks financial accountability cannot credibly train future professionals. The integrity of our universities is a matter of national security,” he stated.
The EFCC chairman advocated the deployment of artificial intelligence in university governance to improve transparency and detect fraud, noting that many institutions still rely on manual systems prone to abuse.
