EFCC Says ‘Lazy And Greedy’ Nigerian Youths Responsible For Cybercrime Surge

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has blamed “laziness” and “greed” among Nigerian youths for the rising cases of cybercrime in the country, warning that the pursuit of quick wealth continues to destroy lives and reputations.

According to the anti-graft agency, many young people now view internet fraud as a shortcut to success rather than pursuing legitimate paths to wealth through “hard work, perseverance, and dedication.”

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, “charged youths across the country to choose the paths of integrity and ethical standards and shun internet fraud as they aspire to become future leaders.”

In a statement posted Monday, October 27, 2025, on the Commission’s official X handle, the EFCC said Olukoyede made the remarks during an “orientation and sensitisation programme organised for the new students of the Air Force Institute of Technology, AFIT, Nigerian Air Force, Mando, Kaduna, for the 2025/2026 Academic Session.”

The EFCC boss, represented by Chief Superintendent of the EFCC, Nana Fatima Abubakar of the Public Affairs Department, Kaduna Zonal Directorate, “educated the participants on the activities of the EFCC in a lecture on the Dangers of Cybercrime.”

Olukoyede stressed “there was no shortcut to wealth as hard work, perseverance and dedication remained the paths to success, noting that the desire to get rich quickly often leads to loss of freedom, image damage, depression, and untimely death in some instances.”

The Commission further stated that “while observing that youths are largely the perpetrators of cybercrime in the country, he stated that they could use the same internet space positively and make good and legitimate earnings.”

He “pointed to peer pressure, lack of patriotism, greed and laziness as catalysts for youth indulgence in internet fraud,” warning that many have now combined “drug and substance abuse as well as criminal fetish activities” with cybercrime.

Olukoyede urged the students to reject such dangerous paths and support the anti-corruption fight by reporting fraudulent activities to the EFCC through its Eagle Eye App, “which among other things, guarantees the anonymity of the reporter.”(SaharaReporters)