Did EFCC Raid El-Rufai’s Son’s House, Recover $800 Million, ₦700 Billion?

A post circulating on X claims that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided the home of Mohammed Bello El-Rufai in Kaduna, recovering $800 million, ₦700 billion in cash, and ₦1 trillion worth of drugs.

Bello, a Nigerian lawmaker representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency in the 10th National Assembly, is the son of former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai.

Earlier today, an X user, @SabanaNkiru, with 12,400 followers, shared two images of stacked cash, captioned: “Breaking News: EF

VERIFICATION

Checks by EduVision revealed that the images in question have been online since April 20, 2017. A Google Reverse Image Search showed the images first appeared as far back as seven years ago.

On November 16, 2022, a Facebook user, The Gist Central, shared an image similar to one posted by @SabanaNkiru with the caption: “BREAKING: EFCC Recovered Over $6million From Bureau De Change Operators Amid Forex Deficiency.”

Further investigation traced the images to an April 20, 2017 CNN report about $43 million cash found by the EFCC in a Lagos apartment, featuring the same images. A related article by Vanguard, published on April 19, 2017, also included one of the images.

EduVision confirmed that the EFCC originally posted the images on its Facebook page on April 12, 2017, referencing the infamous #Ikoyigate case widely reported in the media.
Bello El-Rufai has dismissed the claim as baseless on his X handle.

The EFCC has also denied the narrative, urging the public to disregard the false story via a statement on its Facebook page.

CONCLUSION
Claims that the EFCC raided Bello El-Rufai’s house and recovered stacks of dollars and drugs are MISLEADING.

Investigations reveal that the images circulating online have been available since 2017 and are unrelated to El-Rufai.

The photos are linked to a 2017 incident in Lagos where the anti-corruption agency uncovered millions of dollars in an apartment.

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