The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has linked the rising involvement of Nigerian youths in economic and financial crimes to poor parenting and family neglect.
Olukoyede made this known in Kaduna on Friday, September 19, 2025, while delivering a lecture titled “Family Neglect and Youth Involvement in Economic Offences” at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College. He was represented by the Acting Director of the Kaduna Zonal Directorate, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, Bawa Usman Kaltungo.
According to him, failure of family members to provide adequate emotional, psychological, and material support leaves young people vulnerable to crime. “Family neglect can stem from poverty, ignorance, abdication of responsibility, or substance abuse, and it has dire consequences on children, exposing them to financial and economic crimes,” he said.
Olukoyede stressed that tackling the problem requires a multi-dimensional approach that combines family support systems, youth mentorship, education, job opportunities, and sporting programmes to help channel young people’s energy into productive ventures.
He expressed concern that many undergraduates arrested for internet fraud often claim financial hardship as justification, noting that inadequate support from home drives them into cybercrime.
Commending President Bola Tinubu’s administration for addressing students’ financial challenges through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund), Olukoyede said the EFCC was proud that its recovered proceeds of crime provided the N50 billion seed capital for the scheme.
He further outlined the Commission’s preventive initiatives aimed at curbing youth involvement in crime, including the EFCC Integrity Club for primary and secondary schools, Zero Tolerance Club for tertiary institutions, EFCC/NYSC CDS Group, and the annual National Cybercrime Summit.
