Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said that the activities of internet fraudsters, popularly called Yahoo Boys, were damaging Nigeria’s image abroad.

Mr Olukoyede, in a video circulated via EFCC’s X handle on Monday, attributed Nigeria’s bad image abroad to the activities of young internet fraudsters, describing them a national shame.

“Let me use this opportunity to address the issue of Yahoo Yahoo boys that has become a major issue in Nigeria. People often accuse the EFCC of not going after people who are stealing mega money; we run after Yahoo boys. I want Nigerians to know that we are having crisis on our hands,” Mr Olukoyede said.

Speaking on the impact of youths’ involvement in internet fraud, the antigraft czar said, “Today, if you travel abroad with your green passport, you stand in the queue among so many people you will discover that by the time you present your green passport, the people will look at you with some reservation. That is if they don’t take you outside to carry out special scrutiny on you. That is the national shame some young Nigerians have caused for us.”

He added, “I go out to interact with counterparts abroad, to interact with government agencies in the course of recovering money and assets; these are things very difficult for us to defend. They see it on social media. I want to tell Nigerians this ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ is a crisis. You men don’t believe in hard work anymore.”

The anti-graft czar had, on several occasions, blamed Nigeria’s bad image within the international community on Yahoo Boys, even though there have been Nigerian leaders and politicians with criminal and fraudulent antecedents abroad.

Aside from the late dictator Sani Abacha, whose loot foreign countries are still repatriating to Nigeria, there are reports showing governors, senators and other Nigerian politicians with criminal records abroad.

Former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, served prison time in the UK for theft and money laundering, while his counterpart, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was sentenced to jail in Nigeria for corruption after he disguised himself as a woman to flee the UK.

President Bola Tinubu, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Femi Gbajabiamila, and Senator Neda Imasuen all once had corruption cases abroad before returning home to join politics.