Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on Wednesday that it had recovered over N1.5bn in cash from the South-South geo-political zone between the second and third quarters of the year.

The South-South Zonal Director of the EFCC, Mr Nnaghe Obono-Itam, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the amount was recovered from those investigated for alleged fraudulent practices within the period under review.

Obono-Itam, who did not name the suspects involved in the crime due to the pending matters in court, explained that the sums of $678,354.80 and 5,254 euros were also recovered from suspected corrupt persons whose cases were still under investigation.

The EFCC zonal director also revealed that members of a syndicate that specialised in selling fake WAEC, NECO and JAMB forms to unsuspecting members of the public were recently apprehended by operatives of the commission.

Identifying the leader of the syndicate as Emeka Obunoha, also known as Netforce, Obono-Itam stated that the suspects had since been charged to court.

He said, “We have done recoveries of N1,592,568,524.38, made up of N466,486,038.68 and N1,126,082,485.07 as money held in account. Out of that, we have N1,000,036,448.06 on interim forfeiture with the Federal Government.

“We also have a total recovery of $678,354.80, cash of $402,425.89 and we have $275, 928.91 in account of PND (Post-no-Deposit) as well. We have 5, 254.20 euros with 5,225 euros as cash and 29.20 euros in account of PND.

“Again, we had in the second quarter received a complaint about a syndicate that uses online medium to sell fake results for WAEC, NECO and the rest. I am glad to say that we have been able to break that syndicate.”

He added, “The complaint came through the Civil Society Network against Corruption; they actually wrote a petition to us about people who leak examination papers of WAEC, NECO and JAMB.

“Our men went to work; one Emeka Obunoha, alias Netforce, was arrested. He (Emeka) has done a lot of harm to us and to the country through their website; www.examscore.com.”

Obono-Itam also disclosed that the EFCC had taken delivery of over 283 trucks laden with stolen 5.6 million litres of petroleum products from the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt.

“The trucks were arrested with their drivers, who were later released on bail by the Army before the hand over. The laboratory result of analysis from the DPR indicates that 121 of the trucks were carrying adulterated AGO.

“The laboratory result of analysis from DPR also indicates that 39 of the trucks were loaded with High Pour Fuel Oil and Low Pour Fuel Oil  while 31 trucks were loaded with waste/lube oil.

“Twenty-four of the trucks loaded genuine products (AGO, PMS and DPK) from recognised depot in Port Harcourt, while 31 trucks were empty at the time of their arrest,” he added.

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