Ola Olukoyede, head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has expressed alarm over the growing involvement of Nigerian undergraduates in cybercrime, revealing that roughly six out of every 10 university students may be engaged in such activities.

He made this disclosure on Tuesday while speaking at the 8th biennial conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria in Kano, where discussions focused on the role of artificial intelligence in university governance and global competitiveness.

According to Olukoyede, findings from EFCC operations over the past year indicate a worrying trend of internet fraud among students. He attributed the development to systemic issues within the higher education system, including weak supervision and inadequate accountability structures.

He further revealed that many individuals arrested in recent anti-cybercrime operations were students, with some allegedly bribing lecturers to compromise academic standards. He cited a December 2024 crackdown in Lagos, where a significant number of the 792 suspects apprehended were undergraduates, highlighting the scale of the problem.

The EFCC chairman also raised concern about the rise of “Yahoo Plus,” a form of internet fraud reportedly combined with ritual practices, describing it as an even more dangerous evolution of cybercrime.

He urged university authorities to tighten institutional controls and collaborate more closely with law enforcement agencies to tackle the issue, stressing that maintaining integrity in the education system is crucial to national security.

Olukoyede also advocated for the adoption of artificial intelligence in areas such as fraud detection, payroll systems, procurement monitoring, and academic oversight, noting that such tools could help identify suspicious activities and improve transparency. He added that the EFCC has already begun integrating AI into its investigative processes, including digital forensics and financial tracking.