- Yunusa reported that the zonal command exceeded its 50 conviction target, credited to staff dedication and support from sister agencies, Community-based Organizations, CBOs, and individuals.
- The zonal office is grappling with staff shortages and cyber crime training due to modern fraud methods being employed by fraudsters.
From January to December 15 in the states of Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was successful in getting 65 fraudsters found guilty by the courts.
This was revealed to reporters by Mr. Aliyu Yunusa, the Sokoto Zonal Commander, on Friday in Sokoto State during an end-of-year ceremony hosted by the commission.
According to Yunusa, the zonal command had achieved more convictions than it had set out to, and she credited staff hard work, as well as assistance from sister agencies, other CBOs, and people.
He noted that most cases recorded were impersonations, involving the use of other peoples’ National Identification Numbers (NIM), receiving stolen monies, cloning of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards for third-party money withdrawal and defrauding individuals through pretences.
” The most important celebration is that we stopped various crimes, discovered numerous frauds and recovered funds from fraudsters within the year.
According to him, the zonal office is faced with manpower challenges and staff training on specialised cyber crimes as fraudsters use modern ways to swindle people.
” When incidents happen, we look at it with a forensic eye to block the loopholes and fast track investigations, thereby more sophistication is needed, ” the commander added.