The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has handed over 1,452 hostel items recovered from proceeds of crime to the Federal Ministry of Education for distribution to schools across the country.
Highlights:
- EFCC donated 1,452 recovered hostel items to the Ministry of Education for schools.
- The items include 501 bunk beds, 939 mattresses, and 12 wooden beds.
- EFCC said the assets were recovered during Operation Eagle Flush in late 2024.
- Chairman Ola Olukoyede said recovered crime proceeds should directly benefit Nigerians.
- Education Minister Tunji Alausa said recovered funds also supported NELFUND.
- The hostel items will be distributed to federal unity colleges to improve student accommodation.
The items, which include 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 on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event on Tuesday, Olukoyede said the items were recovered during the EFCC’s “Operation Eagle Flush,” a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime and other financial offences carried out in late 2024. He described the exercise as the largest single operation in the commission’s history.
According to him, 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 jail terms.
Olukoyede said the decision to transfer the recovered items to the education ministry reflects the Federal Government’s policy of ensuring that assets recovered from criminals are redirected to projects that directly benefit Nigerians.
He added that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the initiative with the belief that young people, who are often the biggest victims of corruption and financial crimes, should be the first beneficiaries of recovered assets.
The EFCC chairman noted that the education sector has previously benefited from forfeited assets, citing the transfer of a confiscated university facility that was converted into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia.
He also disclosed that recovered proceeds of crime contributed to the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying more than 1.4 million students have already benefited from the scheme.
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Olukoyede said improved access to education would reduce the attraction of cybercrime among young Nigerians, stressing that the EFCC would continue to recover stolen assets while ensuring transparency and accountability in their use.
Receiving the items, Alausa commended the EFCC for its anti-corruption efforts, particularly its focus on procurement fraud and cybercrime. He described education as a key pillar of the Federal Government’s economic agenda and said President Tinubu had deliberately directed recovered assets towards strengthening the sector.
The minister revealed that the initial ₦50 billion seed funding for NELFUND came from recovered proceeds of crime, describing it as an example of converting stolen public funds into national development.
Alausa also disclosed that the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia admitted about 3,000 students in its first academic session and is expected to increase enrolment to more than 5,000 students in its second year.
He added that the recovered hostel facilities would be deployed to federal unity colleges across the country to improve accommodation for students, reaffirming the ministry’s commitment to ensuring the assets are used to enhance access to quality education.
