Nigeria takes action against the Yahoo-Yahoo boys

 

This is AS IT IS, from VOA Learning English. Hello, I’m Christopher Cruise.

Today on the program, Jeri Watson takes us to Nigeria, where the government is taking action against some of its young citizens who are stealing money from people through the internet, and hurting the country’s reputation in the process...

Police in Nigeria have begun arresting people who are using the Internet to take millions of dollars every month from foreign victims. Earlier this month, police detained 20 people in the southern city of Benin.

Some people in Benin are angry about the arrests. They say the Yahoo-Yahoo boys, as they are called, should not go to jail while corrupt¹ politicians go unpunished.

Jerilyn Watson reports...

It is a Saturday night at an upper class lounge in Benin City. Young men drink champagne² and bottles of scotch³. This drinking establishment is said to be a popular stop for the Yahoo-Yahoo boys. The name comes from their use of the Yahoo! email service. Yahoo! was the first program used for the illegal scams when the Internet became available in Nigeria in the early 2000s.

We are traveling with a young man named David as he drives his car slowly on one of the bad roads in Benin City. He says some young people turn to Internet scams as a way to escape poverty.

“Everyone knows that it’s wrong, but the truth is that there’s nothing to do. It’s, like, the only, it’s the only way out.”

Another man in the car says he once was a Yahoo-Yahoo boy, but he now operates a legal business. Still, he defends some Internet scams, like the one where you get an e-mail, saying you won a large prize and you need to send some money to collect your winnings. He says only greedy people will send the money.

He says if corrupt politicians stopped robbing the public, there would be a growing economy and jobs. People would be able to work at legal jobs, he says, instead of finding ways to steal money over the Internet.

Sunny Duke Okosun is a local broadcaster. He says joblessness is the reason the scam artists do what they do.

“There is really no interesting statistics to say how much job is being created to checkmate the unemployment problem. So you find that most youths that get involved in internet scam is also a function of this.” 

But other Nigerians say ending the Internet scam would harm the local economy and increase crime. Greg Eromomene is an events manager in Benin City. He says the city is much safer now than it was before so many people became involved with Internet fraud.

“Those guys they are like rich people. They cannot easily go break into shops and do those kind of things, because that has provided them with a kind of livelihood⁴, a means of living, you understand? So, petty thieves have been reduced, you understand.”

I’m Jeri Watson.

And that’s today’s edition of “!s It Is,” our new daily show in VOA Special English.

Next time on “As it Is,” we’ll hear about the impact on the South African economy of the theft of electrical, telecommunications and transport cables. We’ll take you to Uganda, where hundreds of engineering students are helping⁵ the country launch its first probe into space. And we go to Sierra Leone to learn about efforts to keep children from being forced to become soldiers.

You can tell us what you want to hear on our new show. We want to report on the issues and ideas that matter to you in your world, !s It Is and...as you want it to be.

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

3 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

4 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。