Cybercrime, also known as Yahoo Yahoo in the Nigerian local parlance, is now a cancer that has eaten deep into our society.
It has relegated hard work to the background and left youths who are mostly involved in this vice without morals.
What was once a taboo is now trendy. Many commentators believe poverty, and the declining standard of parenting should be blamed for the menace.
The get-rich-quick syndrome amongst youths involved in Yahoo Yahoo has also metamorphosed into widespread ritual killings.
Ritual killing was a rarity before now. But today, it has become a daily occurrence. More pathetic is the fact that kids as young as 13, 14, and 15 years have started to get involved.
Here are five reasons why young people go into cybercrime/ritual killing:
1. Unemployment
When apprehended, many cybercriminals/ritual killers, usually say they ventured into the act because of unemployment.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in 2021, unemployment in Nigeria stood at about 32.5%.
But, be that as it may, the issue of unemployment is for me a global phenomenon and not enough reason to venture into such an obnoxious act.
2. Social media
The advantages of social media are enormous. From job creation to the advancement of good governance, to improvement of the banking and financial sectors, amongst others, it has added value to mankind.
Despite these many advantages, social media has also contributed to cybercrime/ritual killings. Unscrupulous individuals use it to flaunt false and or unclean wealth, thereby negatively influencing unsuspecting individuals. Ritualists use social media to look for victims especially young women.
For example, some days ago social media was awash with a story of some teenagers who beheaded a 17-year-old girl for money ritual. When caught, they confessed that they got guidelines on how to perform the ritual through Facebook.
3. Material nature of some women
Many guys have died untimely while trying to please their lovers. They have been pressured into cybercrime/ritual killing, just to satisfy the materialistic cravings of their lovers.
Today, many women don’t care to enquire about the kind of job their husbands, fiances, or boyfriends are doing to make ends meet. All they care about is that he gives them money and takes care of their needs.
This is not to say all women are like that. No! The issue is that some of them, directly and indirectly, push some young guys into all sorts of criminal activities to meet their endless financial demands.
4. Bad parenting
The level of parenting today according to several public commentators has reached an abysmally low level. Disciplining a child who errs is now seen as abuse. Parents even fight teachers who discipline their children in school.
When children are raised without morals and discipline, they often cannot differentiate wrong from right. They are ready to go the extra mile just to make money because of the lack of morals.
5. Religious leaders not doing enough
Many religious leaders today do not care about preaching the fear of God to their congregation. They are only concerned about the biggest donors and tithers. Wealthy members are given special recognition and awards without due diligence to ascertain the source of their wealth.
There are cases of ritualists being ordained as pastors, imams, elders, etc because they are wealthy.
