The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged students of tertiary institutions across the country to shun cybercrime and join the fight against corruption.
In a statement on Thursday, the EFCC said its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, gave the charge when staff and 100-level students of the Department of Cybersecurity, Abdulkadir Kure University, Niger State, recently visited the commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.
Mr Olukoyede, represented by the head of the Public Interface Unit of the EFCC, Tony Ojelimafe Orilade, noted that the fight against corruption and economic and financial crimes should not be left to the commission alone.
“We need you in this fight against economic and financial crimes because Nigeria is so blessed with natural resources, but there is an issue of corruption, and that is why the EFCC was set up to fight the menace
“We cannot do it all alone. We need everybody. We need you because this fight is not the fight for the staff of the commission. It is not the fight for the EFCC Chairman. It is a fight for the betterment of this country, Nigeria,” the EFCC chairman stated.
Mr Olukoyede further urged the students to report suspicious activities, saying their contribution was essential to reducing corruption in the country.
“If we join hands together to fight corruption, let us work to the point that corruption is reduced to the very barest minimum. How do you join in this fight? When you see something, please try and say something. You cannot say it is none of your business,” he added.
While warning students against cybercrime, popularly known as yahoo yahoo, the anti-graft czar added that a criminal record could have serious consequences for young people seeking employment, education or international travel.
“Be an ambassador. Represent your family. Your family has a name. Don’t destroy that name,” Mr Olukoyede explained.
In his remarks, the head of the commission’s Enlightenment and Reorientation Unit, Aisha Mohammed, urged the students to take ownership of the anti-corruption campaign.
Ms Mohammed said the EFCC’s mandate included preventing, investigating, and prosecuting economic and financial crimes, adding that the commission had programmes aimed at promoting integrity among young people.
“You need to understand that this fight against corruption is for everyone. You have to own it. It is not EFCC alone. If Nigeria is bad, it is also us that will suffer it. So we have to understand that we have to fight this fight together,” she said.