The Lekki area of Lagos is now a hotbed of cybercrime in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says.
“Lekki, the fast-developing upper-middle-class area of Lagos Metropolis, is emerging as the new hub of internet-related fraud,” the anti-graft agency said in a public statement on Thursday.
“Data from the investigation activities of the Lagos command of the EFCC for the second quarter of 2021 indicates that Lekki district is the preferred location for all manner of cyber fraud syndicates,” the agency said.
Analysis pointed to the prevalence of romance, middleman and dating scams as well as wire fraud, the EFCC said. Many of the perpetrators are referred to as ‘Yahoo boys’.
“Between April and June 2021, the Advance Fee Fraud and Cyber Crime Sections of the command recorded a total of 402 internet-related fraud arrests,” the agency continued.
“While the Advance Fee Fraud Section was responsible for 243 arrests, the Cyber Crime Section executed 18 sting operations which resulted in 159 arrests, from which 13 convictions have so far been recorded.
“Of the 159 suspects arrested by the Cyber Crime Section, 70 are from Lekki, comprising communities such as Ajah, Badore, Victoria Garden City, Sangotedo and Oniru.
“Ajah accounted for 24 suspects, while Oniru and Sangotedo had 14 and 13 suspects respectively. Badore had eight suspects. Neighbouring Ikoyi and Eko Atlantic had two and one suspects each. Ikorodu and Alagbado on the Lagos Mainland make up the remainder.
“The suspects are mostly millennials, with 82 of them aged between 25-34 years, which speaks to the fact that most of the individuals arrested are either still in school, recent graduates or university dropouts,” it added.
