The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, on Tuesday handed over 1,452 items recovered from the 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, Dr. Tunji Alausa, at a ceremony in Abuja.
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 offenses.
He described the operation as the largest single operation ever undertaken by the commission.
“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 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.
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“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, they should naturally be the first beneficiaries of the proceeds of such a crime,” he said.
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.
“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.
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.
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