…As phone theft crimes heighten.
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
As the economy bites harder, individuals and families have begun to adapt and device ways and means of survival – wrongly or rightly.
While some have taken into odd jobs – evacuating rubbish to feed their families – many have resorted to buying Android phones and giving their under-aged sons to join Yahoo Boys’ business with the sole aim to make “fast-brakes.”
Findings have uncovered that the latter (the yahoo stuff) is gaining speedy momentum among male children, mostly of those aged below 18 years. Some celebrate fallout of the proceeds from their yahoo boy children.
Our correspondent gathered that the lucrative but odditious and crimes-induced business was triggered by sudden growth of Mansion buildings planted in some low-profile communities that were traced to yahoo boys’ parents.
Aside triggering other poor parents, some boys are being offered android phones by their parents, technically to join the yahoo boys to rake-in monies to support their family up keep.
Many have attributed the development to the apparent reality in the country’s current hardship occasioned by what some described as “subsidy removal, floating of naira, decades of insecurity, terrorism and kidnapping for ransom,” amongst others.
In some cases, school certificate holders awaiting higher education admission are given the phones and shown a group of yahoo boys nearer to even join to ‘help themselves’ in making “a quick one” ahead of their anticipated schools they ended up not going, for obvious reasons.
It has become obvious that, recently, many neighborhood families in communities gathered together for celebration and jubilation with parents for their sons’ cash-out from same cyber fraud and have built big flats for them.
Investigation uncovered that the menace cut across virtually all tribes, religion and states of the Federation and not restricted to one state or zones alone.
In Kaduna, most yahoo boys have relocated from their family houses or circle, for luxury hotels, where they operate, network and train themselves, colleagues and other new entrants.
Feasibility ‘shows’ that, majority of the under-aged yahoo boys venturing into cybercrimes are being encouraged by maternal parents, with little resistance from their paternal parents, according to an expert, who wants his name to remain out-of-print.
Most extremely poor, who could not afford to buy android phones themselves or through their parents, have to take to crimes to get it by stealing, attacking and collecting from owners, heightening the cases of arrest of phone theft crimes suspected by police across board, a case that have also become so rampant in Kaduna State in recent times.