Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has urged corps members and young Nigerians to steer clear of internet fraud and other corrupt practices, warning that ex-convicts have no place in Nigeria’s future leadership.

Spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale revealed the development in a statement sent to Peoples Gazette Thursday night.

Speaking through senior officials of the Commission at various National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camps across the country, Mr Olukoyede stressed the irreversible consequences of cybercrime, including convictions that bar individuals from holding public office, securing visas, or leading credible organisations.

At the NYSC Orientation Camp in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, on Thursday, the anti-graft agency’s chairman, represented by Babatunde Sulaiman, Head of Public Affairs, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, told corps members of Batch B, Stream 1, to make productive use of the internet instead of engaging in criminal activity.

“It is important for corps members to enlighten youths more on the implications of being ex-convicts,” Mr Sulaiman said on behalf of the EFCC boss. “Internet fraudsters are being convicted in multiples and wearing tags of ex-convicts. This is a roadblock to future advancements. Many of these ex-convicts are young people. The implication is grave.”

He added that ex-convicts “cannot hold leadership or public office in future. Embassy officials across the world won’t grant visas to ex-convicts, and no serious international or national enterprise can be run by those already jailed in any court of law.”

At the NYSC camp in Kaiama, Bayelsa State, Mr Olukoyede, represented by Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC II, Otagada Sunday Ogar, told the corps members that corruption was at the root of most of Nigeria’s challenges.

“As young Nigerians, you can only shape tomorrow by changing today. The fight against internet crimes and other acts of corruption is a fight that cannot wait,” he said. “If we desire an open tomorrow, we must not close our prospects today. We must work to make things work.”

In Rivers State, while addressing corps members at the Nounwa Gbam camp in Tai LGA, Deputy Superintendent of the EFCC, James Adayilo Hosea, who spoke on behalf of the chairman, reiterated the agency’s resolve to professionally tackle internet fraud across Nigeria.

Also addressing corps members at the Iseyin Orientation Camp in Oyo State, Superintendent of the EFCC, Olumide Egbodofo, charged youths to actively reject corruption. “You need to be deliberate in rejecting corrupt practices through whistleblowing and working with the EFCC to spread the anti-corruption message,” he said.

The EFCC’s anti-corruption campaign at NYSC orientation camps also spanned its directorates in Kano, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Enugu, Makurdi, Uyo, and other states, where the commission consistently urged corps members to act as “foot soldiers” in the fight against economic and financial crimes.