The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has raised concerns over the activities of organised foreign fraud syndicates establishing cells in Nigerian cities and recruiting youths into cybercrimes, including cryptocurrency fraud.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, revealing that Olukoyede made the remarks while addressing participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 18 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) in Abuja.
According to Olukoyede, the syndicates exploit Nigeria’s security vulnerabilities, facilitating illegal arms importation through cryptocurrency transactions. He noted that in a recent EFCC operation in Lagos, 194 foreigners—including Chinese, Filipinos, Eastern Europeans, and Tunisians—were arrested in a single building on Victoria Island.
“Some of them lacked valid visas, and most of their financial transactions were conducted through cryptocurrency. Investigations also revealed that some of these foreigners were ex-convicts who had escaped from their home countries to seek refuge in Africa,” Olukoyede stated.
He highlighted the broader security threats posed by non-state actors involved in illegal mining and arms trafficking, stressing the need for coordinated efforts at national and continental levels to tackle internet fraud and related crimes.
NISS Commandant Joseph Odama, represented by Director of Studies Hyginus Ngele, commended the EFCC’s efforts in combating financial crimes, noting that the commission’s investigative work had exposed how certain NGOs and entities channel funds to non-state actors, fueling instability across Africa.
He called for stronger legal and institutional frameworks to enhance transparency and accountability in tackling these security challenges.
[…] Garaha responded in the early hours and engaged the attackers, forcing them to retreat. However, residents said the intervention came too late to prevent the widespread […]