By Mumini AbdulKareem
The Kwara State House of Assembly has condemned in strong terms the increasing wave of internet fraud and other nefarious activities of fraudsters known as ” Yahoo Yahoo boys” in Offa, Ilorin, Oro and Malete towns in the state.
The House made the condemnation at plenary while considering a motion titled “Need to Curb the increasing Menace of Internet Fraudsters/Yahoo Yahoo Activities in Kwara State” sponsored by member representing Ojomu/Balogun constituency, Hon Saheed Popoola.
Co-sponsors of the motion include members representing Afon and Kaiama/Kemanji/Wajibe, constituencies, Hon Abdul Wahab Opakunle and Abdullahi Haliru Danbaba respectively.
The Speaker, Hon Yakubu Salihu Danladi, while reading the resolutions of the House, expressed displeasure over the increasing rate of cyber crimes in the state and assured that the 9th Assembly would take drastic steps towards curbing the ugly trend.
He assured that the House would take relevant stakeholders’ inputs with a view to proffering enduring solutions to cyber crime threatening the harmonious peaceful co-existence in the state.
The House also urged relevant government agencies to be alive to their responsibilities and fashion out modern strategies that would combat the menace.
The Legislature enjoined parents, guardians, communities, religious leaders and school authorities to intensify efforts in restoring the values of the society,
It equally called on hoteliers in the state to report daily activities of “Yahoo Yahoo” boys in their hotels to the state Ministry of Culture and Tourism to ensure proper monitoring.
Hon Popoola had while moving the motion, identified inordinate ambition, moral bankruptcy among youths as factors boosting the growth of cyber crime, stressing that the menace had escalated to ritual killings and called for concerted efforts at restoring the nation’s value system in order to curb the trend.
Other members who spoke on the motion, traced its origin, causes, challenges and consequences and advocated the need to reform the judicial sector, inclusion of moral education in the school curriculum, collaboration of relevant stakeholders to exterminate the menace and restore the slogan of the state as a state of Harmony.
