The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed how suspected internet fraudsters, commonly known as Yahoo boys, stole more than N7.2 million from the bank account of a serving judge in the middle of the night.
Speaking at the launch of two books written by retired High Court judge Justice Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye, Olukoyede said the judge called him around 1 am after receiving several debit alerts.
According to him, the judge explained that the money was meant for her child’s education.
“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 N7.2 million before she contacted him for help. He added that the incident occurred in a state where the EFCC had been restrained by a court order from investigating some 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 acted swiftly and recovered the full amount before the end of the day.
“Before 6 pm, we recovered the entire money for her.”
He said the experience showed why Nigerians must take financial crimes seriously: “When you become a direct victim, that is when you’ll know that something has to be done.”
Olukoyede called for stronger cooperation among law enforcement agencies, citizens, and the judiciary to tackle cybercrime. He also urged lawmakers to update Nigeria’s laws to support the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in criminal investigations.
However, he noted that existing laws make it difficult to admit AI-generated evidence in court, adding: “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 (SAN) urged anti-corruption agencies to recover stolen public funds kept abroad.
