Cyber convicts in the country can now put their IT skills to lawful use as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed plans to commence a rehabilitation approach to train them in relevant skills to “earn a legitimate income”.

EFCC who made these known through a public release on its verified handle on the micro-blogging site, Twitter Tuesday afternoon said the commission intends to use the approach o curb the upsurge of internet fraud in the country.

According to the press release, “The Commandant, EFCC Academy, Commander of the EFCC, CE Ayo Olowonihi, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, disclosed that the Commission has commenced the process of training cybercrime convicts to make use of the computer and the internet to earn a legitimate income.

“Olowonihi, who disclosed at a two-day Workshop on Investigation and Enforcement Skills for Effective Regulatory Roles for senior personnel of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, said the measure was aimed at curbing the upsurge in cybercrime despite the efforts being made by the Federal Government of Nigeria toward combating economic and financial crimes.

According to him, “The problem we are dealing with is so huge that we now have parents who take their kids out of formal school and enroll them into internet fraud training centers popularly known as Yahoo-Yahoo school.

“The IT Skills that these young men and women have, they just use it negatively so we have got to do a lot of enlightenment and value re-orientation.”

“The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, in his remark, thanked the Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa for the support being enjoyed by the NBC from the EFCC.

“The participants were trained in various aspects of Investigation, Cyber Crime Laws, Public Relations and Fake news Detection, Emotional Intelligence, Alternative Dispute Resolution, NBC Act, and Case Studies.” (New Telegraph)