Idle youths popularly known as “Yahoo Yahoo” boys have now found hotels as a safe haven to perpetrate their unwholesome act, The Hope investigation has revealed.

The Hope gathered that owners of many of the hotels operating in the state capital and choice locations in the state have also succumbed to the tempting baits and patronage offered by the boys after collecting huge sums of money from them.

Sources in some of the hotels who craved anonymity hinted The Hope that the Yahoo boys who are mainly students were fond of booking rooms in advance in the hotels for months and often pay handsomely up-front.

One of the sources said that it has become a common occurrence in many hotels to see teenagers and those in their 20s making payments of over N1 million for room accommodation covering some weeks.

He revealed that, unfortunately, when they make such bookings, they also give the hotels’ managers conditions not to send their staff to such rooms for routine work, unless they are called.

He noted that many of the hotels owners and Managers now prefer to have Yahoo boys as their clients because they will pay any amount charged. And when they come, they know them and always give them some cover, he lamented.

Some discreet investigations conducted by our correspondents round some of the hospitality facilities  around the Olutuwatuyi/Sijuade axis, Alagbaka and other places in Akure, the Ondo State capital, discovered some suspected yahoo boys sitting in clusters  smoking weeds.

It was gathered that the presence of security operatives at the hotels did not deter them, as if the security were there to protect them from any possible harassment as they consume the substance with impunity.

A customer at one of the hotels who spoke with our correspondents said “the governments cannot say they are not aware that these guys regularly patronise these hotels. The people you’re seeing over there are security agents, except we want to deceive ourselves, the government is very much aware.

At another hotel in Oba Ile, it was confirmed by a source in the hotel who pleaded anonymity that the place has more or less become yahoo boys regular meeting point and  their comfort zone.

Fielding questions from our correspondents, a former cook at the hotel said “they usually come in at odd hours of the day to demand for food.

“I can personally confirm to you that yahoo boys are major customers here, at times they return to the hotel around 2am and they demand for food. As a cook, I have to get them whatever they want.

Moreover, whenever I enter their rooms, I used to have a strange feeling. I just do not like to enter their rooms.”

Also along Idanre road, our correspondent observed that this same set of people were even openly celebrating birthday and other ceremonies at the premises.

However, efforts to get the response of authorities concerned were unsuccessful as they were unwilling to comment on the development.