The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has called on heads of tertiary institutions across the country to join hands with the EFCC in tackling internet fraud among students.

Olukoyede made the call during a meeting with Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts of tertiary institutions in Kogi State at the Ilorin Zonal Command Office in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, last Thursday.

Olukoyede, who spoke through the Ilorin Zonal Commander of EFCC, Michael Nzekwe, said the engagement was in furtherance of their meeting earlier held on May 4, 2023, in Kwara State as part of the measures by the Command to checkmate cybercrime in the state.

The EFCC boss, according to a statement issued by the spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, on Monday, November 6, called on authorities of tertiary institutions to put in place measures that would discourage students from indulging in crimes.

He also admonished parents to be more committed to the moral upbringing of their children in schools in order to bolster the prevention agenda of his administration.

Olukoyede said: “The Commission can achieve the task of ridding the country of corruption, if every institution gets involved and actively participates in the fight against the menace.

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“Higher institutions must endeavour to change the current negative narrative regarding the quality of education in Nigeria, because a corruption-free Nigeria is possible if every individual is proactively and sincerely involved in the fight against corruption.”

Deliberations were also made on the causes of corruption, its effects on students, and society, including preventive measures to adopt in curbing corrupt practices in tertiary institutions.

Responding, the Vice-Chancellor of Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Prof. Salawu Sadiku, lauded the initiative of the EFCC, urging the anti-graft agency to ensure that anti-corruption courses are incorporated into the school curriculum and taught at all levels.

Sadiku said: “Youths of today are exposed to a number of vices that are capable of ruining their lives permanently.

“We need to do more for students to focus on their studies and desist from all forms of cybercrimes.”

Also speaking, the Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic in Lokoja, Dr. Salisu Usman, and the Provost of College of Education in Okene, Dr. Umar Hassan, stressed the need for the introduction of anti-corruption watchdog as part of measures to checkmate cybercrime on campuses.

In the same vein, the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Dr. Yahaya B. Usman, urged the EFCC to strengthen its intelligence-gathering mechanisms in schools, calling on the authorities of schools to enter into a memorandum of understanding that will form an anti-corruption bond which would become a prerequisite for admission of students.

The Star