The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has urged students to exercise caution and verify the legitimacy of any Website or service claiming to represent the organisation.

This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Friday by issued by NELFUND’s Head of

Media and Public Relations, Nasir Ayitogo.

“NELFUND management has become aware of a fraudulent advertisement in the Punch newspaper about a ‘Federal Study Loan’.

“The fraudsters operating the website www.fedstudyloan-gov.ng have advertised an application for the highly anticipated student loan programme of the Federal Government.

“NELFUND wishes to clarify that it has no association with this website and strongly condemns any attempts to deceive students seeking financial aid.

“NELFUND takes the security and well-being of our students very seriously and is committed to providing accurate information and resources for financing their education,” he said.

Ayitogo urged anyone affected by the scam to report it immediately to the relevant authorities.

He added that the official channel for student loan applications, which would be opened to the public in due course, is www.nelf.gov.ng.

NAN reports that the NELFUND said no fewer than 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognised skill acquisition centres will be among the first batch of beneficiaries.

The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, on April 18 said the money to fund the loan scheme is one per cent of the revenue generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service annually. (NAN)

By Funmilayo Adeyemi