By: Jesudunsi Fola-Alao

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dramatically intensified cybercrime operations, conducting mass arrests across major cities including Ogun State. Empowered by the 2015 Cybercrime Act, the commission makes hundreds of arrests monthly fighting Nigeria's reputation as a global internet fraud hub. Recent operations in Ogun State exemplify this aggressive approach just recently, August 10, 2025, EFCC operatives arrested 93 suspected internet fraudsters in Abeokuta, and just days earlier, 55 suspects were arrested at an Hotel in Itori, Ewekoro.

Yet the EFCC's quarrelsome approach is also generating concerns about mode of arrests. Reports suggest random and unsolicited operations against young Nigerians based on lifestyle indicators like flashy cars, designer items, social media posts rather than concrete evidence. This risks dragging in legitimate tech startups, online marketers, and cryptocurrency traders whose success online appears suspicious to investigators. More troubling are reports of lengthy detention without evidence, coercive measures, and investigations that prioritize asset forfeiture over exhaustive evidence gathering. As Nigeria fights cybercrime while cultivating digital growth, the task is how to protect the innocent majority legally involved in the digital economy.

EFCC operations are increasingly demographically profiled, with young Nigerian men being targeted on the basis of superficial indicators rather than evidence. This pattern is particularly high in Ogun State. The raid of August 10, 2025, at a popular hotel in the heart of the state Capital in Abeokuta shows how location and lifestyle become signifiers of criminality. Young men who stay in upscale hotels or gather in high-profile spaces get swept up in mass arrests regardless of individual evidence.

Profiling involves lifestyle clues interpreted as indications of ill-gotten wealth like foreign cars, designer electronics, international travel, regardless of legitimate income sources. In Ogun State, home to premier universities like Covenant University, Babcock University, and Tai Solarin University of Education, successful students and recent graduates of technology courses have become particularly vulnerable. The proximity of the state to Lagos and its developing tech ecosystem imply that numerous youths earn significant amounts of money legally from software development, digital marketing, and cryptocurrency and forex trading, but these same successes make them EFCC targets.

Consequences are catastrophic for Ogun State residents. The operations in August alone trapped nearly 150 individuals, quite a number of whom may be innocent victims of profiling. Students of the state's numerous tertiary institutions like Federal Polytechnic Ilaro and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic talk of fear of displaying indicators of business or entrepreneurial success.

Systematic disregard for due process characterizes EFCC operations in Ogun State in recent times. The invaded Obasanjo Presidential Library, which hosted a legitimate pool party, is a case study of arbitrary operations without valid warrants. The management of the facility publicly disputed EFCC's characterization of the operation, highlighting how reputable institutions are collateral damage in broad-sweep arrests.

Detainees report weeks-long detention without formal charges, legal representation access, or clear allegations explanation. Coercive tactics include pressure to admit guilt for release, detention threats, and password demands without judicial oversight. Asset seizures occur immediately upon arrest, leaving suspects unable to afford legal representation.

To make matters worse, publicized prominent arrests come before official charges, creating public assumption of guilt and irreversible reputational damage. Record-keeping deficits make families and lawyers battle to get basic detention, charge, or hearing information.

EFCC operations systematically undermine innocence presumption, placing burden on suspects to prove innocence rather than requiring prosecutors prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Lifestyle-based arrests assume guilt, requiring suspects to justify legitimate income rather than demanding investigators prove criminal activity.

Pre-conviction asset forfeiture relies on the assumption that young Nigerian wealth must be illegal unless it is otherwise proven. Possessing certain apps, cryptocurrency wallets, or communication tools constitutes evidence of criminal intent, and it requires suspects to defend legitimate technology uses.

EFCC officials bias cases by referring to arrests as operations on "cybercriminals" instead of suspects whose guilt has not been established. This is public assumption of guilt that ruins reputations and biases proceedings.

EFCC profiling has a disproportionate impact on Ogun State's young educated population. With institutions like Covenant University producing successful tech graduates and the state's geographical proximity to Lagos offering real cross-border business prospects, the youth have their business achievement and professional success criminalized. The August 2025 operations show how academic conferences, business meetings, and networking events at respectable centers are converted into an excuse for mass arrests.

The right to a fair trial, guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, is eroded by lengthy detention without charge, limited legal access, and public pre-judgment of cases. Asset forfeiture unchecked by the judiciary violates constitutional rights to property.

The psychological impact results in widespread fear among young men, who censor legitimate business activities and success displays. Such an environment stifles innovation and entrepreneurship, which goes against Nigeria's economic development ambitions.

Effective combating of cybercrime requires holistic approaches focusing on root causes and rights. Nigeria must invest in evidence-based approaches that focus on genuine criminal activity and not on lifestyle indicators.

Enhanced Digital Forensics: Intensive investment in technical capacities and training that enables investigators to examine network traffic, follow cryptocurrency transactions, and understand sophisticated techniques without relying on superficial wealth indicators.

Nigeria's approach to fighting cybercrime will need to begin with systemic digital literacy efforts that are a huge investment in education. These initiatives should focus on opening up actual online opportunities while developing coding skills and entrepreneurship programs that channel technical capability into productive pursuits. By giving young Nigerians authentic digital expertise and skills, Nigeria can channel potential cybercriminals into legal and economically beneficial pursuits.

Development of economic opportunities entails thoughtful use of already available education infrastructure, particularly in states such as Ogun that host world-class universities and benefit from proximity to major economic centers such as Lagos. The government of the state must partner with institutions such as MAPOLY, FUNAAB, OOU in an effort to establish genuine tech incubation centers that foster innovation and true entrepreneurship. This necessitates clear policy directives that distinguish genuine student entrepreneurship pursuits from illicit endeavors, thereby protecting the learning environment that has set Ogun as a destination of preference for quality tertiary education.

International cooperation efforts should be restructured beyond existing frameworks to prioritize formal bilateral legal assistance treaties and joint intelligence networks operating under established evidentiary standards. Instead of adopting unilateral measures that compromise procedural safeguards, Nigeria can strengthen partnership mechanisms with global allies that uphold legal protocols while successfully combating transnational cyber offenses.

Development of in-depth regulatory frameworks is yet another central aspect of this strategy. Clear-cut rules for cryptocurrency exchanges, web-based commerce, and electronic payment systems will help the authorities sort legitimate commercial businesses out from criminal ones. These frameworks should also include adequate investigative procedures and standards of proof to protect innocent people while enabling effective prosecution of actual cybercriminals.

The EFCC's new cybercrime approach, while attempting to address legitimate concerns about Nigeria's international reputation, jeopardizes the rights of innocent young Nigerians and stifles digital economic opportunities. Targeted profiling based on demographics and lifestyle is a concerning divergence from evidence-based policing violating basic human rights.

Consequences extend beyond unjust individual arrests. By making digital economy success suspect, these actions threaten innovation and entrepreneurship Nigeria needs for long-term growth. Young Nigerians who might be employed in a robust digital economy instead emigrate or abandon legitimate enterprise.

Nigeria's efforts to address cybercrime are welcome and necessary, but they have to be within constitutional law and international human rights obligations. Presumption of innocence, due process protections, and evidence-based investigation aren't obstacles to good law enforcement; they're foundations for legitimate, sustainable security.

A balanced approach would develop genuine investigative capabilities, address economic and educational root causes, and build international cooperation based on the rule of law. Only by not infringing on the rights of innocent citizens while effectively extending the reach to actual criminals can Nigeria achieve twin goals of cybercrime fighting and digital advancement.

The innocent majority of Nigerian youth deserve to be protected from both the cybercriminals tarnishing their country's reputation and law enforcers welcoming their success with distrust. Nigeria's future depends on ensuring that the cybercrime fight strengthens and does not undermine justice and economic opportunity foundations underpinning the country's digital future.

Jesudunsi Fola-Alao is Youth Corper serving in the Ogun State Ministry of Information