Kwara Assembly moves to curb cyber crime

Kwara State House of Assembly has condemned reported increasing wave of Internet fraud and other nefarious activities of fraudsters known as “Yahoo Yahoo boys” in such areas as Offa, Ilorin, Oro and Malete in the state.

The House made the condemnation at its plenary while considering a motion titled “Need to Curb increasing Menace of Internet Fraudsters/Yahoo Yahoo Activities in Kwara State” sponsored by the member representing Ojomu/Balogun Constituency, Hon. Saheed Popoola, and co-sponsored by members representing Afon and Kaiama/Kemanji/Wajibe Constituencies Hons. Abdul Wahab Opakunle and Abdullahi Haliru Danbaba respectively.

The Speaker, Engr. Yakubu Danladi Salihu, while reading the resolutions of the House, expressed displeasure over the increasing rate of cybercrime in the state and assured that the ninth Assembly would take drastic steps towards curbing the ugly trend in the state.

He assured that the House would take relevant stakeholders’ inputs with a view to proffering enduring solutions to cybercrime 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 suspected “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 cybercrime, 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 ,among other things, 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.