EFCC recovered items worth 1,452 hostel facilities are handed to the Education Ministry to support federal unity colleges nationwide

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Tuesday handed over 1,452 items recovered from proceeds of crime to the Federal Ministry of Education, saying the assets would be used to improve hostel facilities in schools across Nigeria.

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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, during a ceremony in Abuja.

Olukoyede said the assets were recovered during the commission’s Operation Eagle Flush, a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime and financial crimes carried out in late 2024, which he described as the largest single operation in the EFCC’s history.

“We are gathered here this afternoon to witness the handover to the Federal Ministry of Education of some recovered proceeds of crime duly forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” he said.

According to the EFCC chairman, the operation resulted in 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 prison terms.

Olukoyede said the decision to transfer the recovered assets to the education sector reflected the Federal Government’s policy of ensuring that forfeited proceeds of crime deliver tangible public benefits.

“President Bola Tinubu made this decision fully conscious of the fact that children and the youth are the greatest victims of corruption and financial crimes. So, it should naturally be the first beneficiaries of the proceeds of such crime,” he said.

He noted that the latest handover followed previous interventions in the education sector funded through recovered assets.

Olukoyede recalled that a privately owned university forfeited to the Federal Government had been converted into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, expanding access to tertiary education in Kaduna State.

“You all remember sometime last year, a whole university facility was forfeited to the Federal Government and it was handed over to the Ministry of Education. Today, we have the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia, Kaduna State,” he said.

The EFCC chairman also highlighted the commission’s contribution to the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying recovered proceeds of crime provided the initial funding for the scheme.

According to him, more than 1.4 million students have benefited from the programme, which he said had helped reduce barriers to higher education while steering many young Nigerians away from financial crimes.

“So, today, those who never thought of going to school now have the opportunity of going to school. Potentially, 1.4 million young people have been taken out of the dockets of those who have the potential to commit financial crimes,” Olukoyede said.

He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to transparency in the management and deployment of forfeited assets.

“There is not a penny of forfeited or recovered proceeds of crime to be misappropriated or misused. On behalf of the management and staff of the EFCC, we promise transparency and accountability in the application of proceeds of crime,” he added.

Receiving the items, Alausa commended the EFCC for adopting what he described as a proactive and transformative approach to tackling corruption, particularly procurement-related offences and cybercrime.

The minister said President Tinubu had consistently prioritised education as a key pillar of the administration’s economic development agenda.

“We have a President that believes so much in education. Education is the bedrock of the development of this country.

As the President advances his agenda to build a one-trillion-dollar economy, he knows educating the youth is a pillar of building that economy,” Alausa said.

He disclosed that the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, admitted about 3,000 students during its inaugural academic session and is projected to enrol more than 5,000 students in its second year.

Alausa also revealed that the ₦50 billion seed capital used to establish NELFUND came from recovered proceeds of crime.

“The first ₦50 billion that started the Nigerian Education Loan Fund came from the EFCC.

This fund would not have been there without your aggressiveness in pursuing criminals looting public funds. So, we’re converting stolen money to gains, gains to develop our country,” he said.

The minister said the newly received beds and mattresses would be distributed to Federal Government Unity Colleges across the country to improve students’ living conditions.

“We need these bunks. We need these mattresses. We need these beds in our unity colleges.

Chairman, thank you. We in the education sector have been the biggest beneficiary of this,” he said.

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The EFCC Recovered Items handover is part of the Federal Government’s broader policy of redirecting forfeited assets into public projects, particularly in education, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen institutions, improve infrastructure and ensure that proceeds recovered from financial crimes deliver measurable benefits to Nigerians.