EFCC hands over 1,452 recovered items to Unity Schools

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, July 7, handed over 1,452 items recovered from proceeds of crime to the Federal Ministry of Education to support schools across the country.

The recovered items, comprising 501 double-step bunk beds, 939 mattresses and 12 wooden beds with mattresses, were formally presented to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, at a ceremony in Abuja by the Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede.

Speaking at the event, Olukoyede said the items were recovered during the commission’s “Operation Eagle Flush,” a nationwide operation conducted in late 2024 against cybercrime and other financial offences.

He described the operation as the largest single operation ever undertaken by the commission.

According to him, the operation led to the arrest of 792 suspects, including 193 foreign nationals, all of whom were investigated, prosecuted and convicted before the foreign nationals were deported after serving their jail terms.

Olukoyede said the decision to transfer the recovered items to the education ministry was in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to channel recovered assets into projects that directly benefit Nigerians.

The EFCC chairman noted that the handover was not the first intervention from recovered assets directed at the education sector.

He recalled that a forfeited university was previously transferred to the Federal Government and converted into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia.

Olukoyede also said recovered proceeds of crime had supported the establishment of the student loan scheme through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

He stated that more than 1.4 million students had benefited from the initiative, arguing that improved access to education would help reduce the attraction of cybercrime among young Nigerians.

He added that the commission would continue to recover proceeds of crime and ensure they were deployed transparently.

Receiving the items, Alausa commended the EFCC chairman for adopting a proactive approach to tackling corruption, particularly procurement-related offences and cybercrime.

He described education as central to the Federal Government’s economic agenda and said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had deliberately directed recovered assets towards strengthening the sector.

The minister disclosed that the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, admitted about 3,000 students in its first academic session and is expected to increase its intake to over 5,000 students in its second year.

He also revealed that the initial N50 billion seed funding for the Nigerian Education Loan Fund came from recovered proceeds of crime.