The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has revealed how suspected internet fraudsters, popularly known as Yahoo boys, stole more than ₦7.2 million from the bank account of a serving judge in the middle of the night.
Olukoyede disclosed this during the launch of two books authored by retired High Court judge, Justice Alaba Omolaye Ajileye.
According to the EFCC chairman, the judge contacted him around 1 a.m. after receiving multiple debit alerts from her bank account.
He explained that the stolen funds had been saved over a six year period to finance the education of the judge’s child.
“She had just been scammed of the money she had been putting together for six years to send her child to school,” he said.
Olukoyede said the victim lost about ₦7.2 million before reaching out for urgent assistance. He added that the incident happened in a state where the EFCC had been restricted by a court order from investigating certain financial crimes.
He quoted the judge as saying: “No, no, no! This is an exception. You must do something immediately!”
The EFCC chairman said the commission moved swiftly and successfully recovered the entire amount before the end of the day.
“Before 6 pm, we recovered the entire money for her.”
He said the incident underscores the urgent need for Nigerians to take financial crimes more seriously.
“When you become a direct victim, that is when you’ll know that something has to be done.”
Olukoyede also called for stronger collaboration among law enforcement agencies, citizens, and the judiciary to combat cybercrime more effectively.
He further urged lawmakers to review Nigeria’s legal framework to support the use of artificial intelligence in criminal investigations.
According to him, existing laws make it difficult for AI generated evidence to be admitted in court.
“I wish our legislators and professors of law will take time and come together to look at this area and come up with laws that will help us in the area of AI.”
At the event, former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, urged anti corruption agencies to intensify efforts toward recovering stolen public funds kept abroad.
