Nigerians have generally become upset with the recently published names of fellow countrymen who have either been apprehended or declared wanted for financial crimes in the United States of America.
The actions of Nigerians like Thank you Jesus, Advanced Mega Plus Ltd, Williams high school, Fanta, Ryan Giggs, He is risen happy Easter, CTA finance source, Son of God, Mansion, Zero, Mystical, GodisGod, Code, Blade, Dee Dutchman, Chima Russia, Smart, Mobility, Boss Iffy, Ifeanyi Soccer, Humble, Pastor Kc, Slim Dad No1 and a host of others including one Adegoke have severely crashed the reputation of Nigeria and Nigerians across the globe.
Unfortunately, a lot of social media reviews of this list have passed through ethnic filters and we know the reason why this is so. I'll repeat it here again, do not do ethnic or religious profiling whenever it comes to crime. You will not like it at all when it is your turn to reap what you sow.
Some Nigerians have been mocking the EFCC whenever 'yahoo boys' get paraded. They question why the cops go after harmless young men and women who are only trying to survive. I am not sure if these Nigerians have also mocked the FBI and the DOJ because of joblessness. I hope they see now that such crimes are not tolerated globally and EFCC clamping down on home-based scammers is nothing extraordinary but part of their job description.
Some have tried to downplay the severity of this type of crime by comparing it to kidnapping and terrorism. I'm not quite sure these crimes are markedly different; one can even argue that these internet scams are the precursors of some 'worse' crimes. A scammer creates a fake persona with a name like Invictus for example and preys on vulnerable individuals to defraud them of their money. Some others are more daring and infiltrate bank accounts and corporations to siphon money. These individuals generally have flashy lifestyles and many of them have part or most of their loot in Nigeria. Other young people envy them and covet what they have. Some learn the ropes of scamming people but a few others are pushed to crime. Some of these scammers may require protection for themselves and their assets in Nigeria and can either have government agencies in their pockets or simply finance local violent men to do the job. This may be applicable to those who do drugs as well as other shady business across the globe.
One American woman who was a victim of such crimes lost almost $30,000 to a Nigerian who posed on Facebook as an American soldier in Afghanistan. Her husband shot and killed her, her father and himself in December 2018 when he found out she was still communicating with him even after some things had been exposed about the affair. Be careful before concluding that these crimes are harmless and without casualties. There are people who have committed suicide, individuals who have been bankrupted and families that have been scattered because of these criminals.
Poverty has been blamed for pushing these men into crime but I'm sure that even poverty will deny them. I suspect greed is the major culprit. We have had cases of dismissed policemen and soldiers who either sponsored or actively participated in armed robbery; they were probably dismissed in the first place because of their greed and bad behaviour. There are not a few former bankers who defraud their employers before fleeing out of the country to enjoy their loot in saner climes; was it poverty that opened their eyes to crime? Criminals abound in government and religious organizations; I dare say that criminals who are privileged and greedy far outnumber those who are genuinely poor. These men who defrauded thousands of people in America, did they get free visas, travel documents or tickets to get to America? Many of those paraded by EFCC are students of one higher institution or the other, will we say that they all come from poor homes hence the need to commit cyber crimes?
Some want to drive vehicles, some want to impress females while some others will say they want to liberate their people. Why cybercrime when football is there if they can't wait for education to yield reward? There are truly poor people who have learned a skill or a trade and who have done well for themselves. We are a people that will sneer at a young man learning carpentry or plumbing but will celebrate those who appear from the blues with blings and wads of cash. We'll probably give them front row seats everywhere and have them in all our TV and radio stations to talk about how they made it. We know those who churn out pangolo music but who claim to make more money than Grammy nominees and winners but we don't care and wish to make it like them. I hope those who gave Invictus their platforms to promote himself will inform young people of his crimes and ensure such never get airtime again.
The almost 80 Nigerians in this first list are definitely going to end up in the US prison system. They are fortunate that this is not Thailand or Indonesia so they can look forward to having long lives. Their investments and property in Nigeria will most likely be sold off or taken over by other opportunists so those who will return to Nigeria after their terms are not assured that they'll meet anything intact. The really smart ones among them will take advantage of the American prison system and learn a skill or earn a certification if they have none. Those who 'learn sense' may get out earlier for good behaviour while some will eventually become truly saved. I think America will correct their defects ultimately except village people corrupt the reset drive.
It appears America is very serious this time around and more lists may be published and more Nigerians caught in the net. Some say cybercrime is payback to the masters who are long dead; they probably forget that a lot of the slave business involved Africans selling Africans for gin, mirrors, gun powder, royal garb and ornaments. An eye for an eye will only land one in jail in this day and age.
If you love that home or foreign based family member whose ways are suspect, hurry up and call an emergency family meeting to plead and pray with them. These feds are not smiling at all. They know all our aliases and fronts; they clearly have access to all the backend servers Rigobert Atiku is looking for.
Asking people to live within their means is not an endorsement of poverty, it's probably the best advice a young person can get before lust creeps near. Fellas must understand they need not deceive to impress and ladies should not fall for fellas without origin and insertion. Parents should not push their children to take up lifestyles that'd destroy them; encourage hardwork and contentment.
To the almost 80 Nigerians on list one; when there's life, there's hope.
J. Olee Akeju
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