The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede, has expressed concern over what he described as a rising wave of cybercrime involvement among Nigerian university students, warning that it poses a serious threat to national development.
Olukoyede raised the alarm at the 8th Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities held in Kano, according to a report by Daily Trust on Tuesday.
He claimed that about six out of every ten undergraduates in Nigerian universities are engaged in online fraud, describing the situation as “deeply troubling” and dangerous for the country’s future.
“Approximately six out of ten students at our universities are involved in cybercrime. It’s a very unsettling situation,” he said, noting that EFCC investigations have repeatedly shown that a significant number of suspects arrested for cyber-related offences are students.
The EFCC chairman also alleged that some students go as far as hiring individuals to compromise academic systems, pointing to broader structural weaknesses in university administration, including poor supervision and weak internal controls.
He referenced a recent EFCC operation in Lagos State where 792 suspects linked to a cybercrime network were arrested, adding that a large portion of those detained were undergraduates. According to him, the operation, supported by artificial intelligence tools, revealed the scale and sophistication of organised cybercrime groups operating within and outside Nigeria.
Olukoyede also raised concerns about the growing “Yahoo Plus” trend, which combines internet fraud with fetish practices, warning that it presents both security and moral risks.
He urged university governing councils and administrators to take urgent steps to curb the menace by strengthening institutional oversight and collaborating more closely with law enforcement agencies.
“A university cannot credibly train future professionals if it lacks financial accountability. The integrity of our universities is a matter of national security,” he stated.
He further advocated the adoption of artificial intelligence in university governance systems to improve transparency and reduce opportunities for fraud, noting that many institutions still rely on manual processes that are vulnerable to manipulation.