The Nigerian government, on Friday, returned the sum of $180,300 and 53 vehicles that were stolen by some cyber criminals popularly known as ‘Yahoo boys’ to the Canadian government.
The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, handed over the money and the vehicles to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking before handing over the recovered property to Canadian government’s representatives, Olukoyede explained that out of the $180,300, the sum of $164, 000 was stolen from a Canadian, Elena Bogomas, in a romance scam.
He added that $16,300 was stolen from Sandra Butler, after which one of the fraudsters used his proceeds to buy an estate before he was later arrested, prosecuted and jailed while the property sold to recover her funds.
“This is an occasion that we are going to use to demonstrate our commitment to fighting financial crimes and to also collaborate with other countries and agencies around the world.
“It’s common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe. It has become a global problem. Both Africans and non-Africans have spent a lot of time in their country (Canada).
“The people who perpetrate these crimes, they do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and barbaric. They employ all kinds of means to ensure that they move across various jurisdictions.
“That’s why it has become a very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world. People share the same objective and mandate with us.
“Most of the countries all across are collaborating with us in the area of fighting financial crimes. What you are witnessing today is a demonstration of the reinforcement of that commitment.
“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been collaborating with us. The demonstration of that collaboration has resulted in a lot of recoveries and the impact that joint operations have made,” the anti-graft agency boss said.
The anti-graft agency czar, while narrating to journalists how the operation began, noted that although the operations spanned several years, it ultimately led to significant recoveries from across parts of the country.
Olukoyede maintained that Nigeria should not be seen as a hub of financial and other crimes, adding that the country doesn’t tolerate these crimes and that the country would continue to clampdown on the criminals.
He stated, “We are here today to witness the handing over of the assets recovered on behalf of the Canadian victims of cybercrime. The operations have taken a couple of years, and eventually, it has resulted in a substantial recovery.
“It has been necessary for us to let our colleagues and our friends from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police know that as an agency, EFCC, and as a country, we are always ready to fight financial crimes.
“Nigeria should not necessarily be seen as a hub (of financial crimes). It is a transit town. Canada is also a transit town and most countries across the world because we move from one jurisdiction to another.
“Today’s handing over is a demonstration of the fact that the Nigerian government does not tolerate financial crimes. Not only that, we are going to pursue it, because not only that, we will investigate, we will recover, we will prosecute and we will ensure that the victim is restituted.
“We have recovered money, financial assets, and also we have recovered vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canada. As a matter of fact, the total 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims. And also, in one instance, we had $164,000 U.S. dollars given to a Canadian victim known as Eleanor Bogomas.