Cybercrimes Prevalent Among Kwara Tertiary Institutions’ Students

The zonal head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin, Michaels Nzekwe, on Thursday, said cybercrime is a major crime among undergraduates and fresh graduates of tertiary institutions in kwara, Ilorin. 

Nzekwe who represented the acting Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulkarim Chukkol, at a one-day media training organized by the Commission for journalists in Ilorin, noted that the high rate of cybercrime is attributed to the presence of a number of academic institutions in the state.

The zonal head also noted that Nigerians should not wait until they suffer any loss due to economic and financial crimes before moving against corrupt practices.

He said: “Economic and financial crimes remain a threat to our individual and corporate progress.

“It is not only by being a victim of these crimes that we suffer losses.  We also suffer limitations when our neighbours, colleagues, institutions and nation fall prey to them”.

He therefore urged journalists to be patriotic, saying that, “as journalists, we owe our nation and the entire world an obligation of exposing every shadiness and criminal acts through our reporting.

“Journalism is the best gateway to whistle blowing and I charge the media to deploy more time, energy and commitment in exposing all fraudulent activities in our midst.”

He also spoke about activities of illegal solid mineral operators and how they pose grave threat to the local and national economy, through non-payment of royalties, taxes and other dues.

He said: “The commission has been active in tackling their criminalities and will continue to ensure that extant laws against illegal miners are enforced.”

Also present at the workshop was Alex Ocheme, an officer of the EFCC, who spoke about the “New trends in cybercrime: how not to become a victim.” 

He said cybercrime had consumed over $8 trillion of victims’ hard earned finances in the world.

According to him the “legal bottleneck” is one of the factors hindering cross border corruption investigation in the anti-corruption war.

Ocheme noted that not all African countries had passed the law on cybercrime, adding that they cannot be compelled to try corruption offenders with such a law.

He said that, “Each nation is entitled to its laws. They are not necessarily there to work with you. Some countries are fast to assist you in the war against cybercrime while some are not. For instance, if the UAE is not ready to collaborate with you on a cybercrime investigation, it means the money lost is gone”, he said.