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.

NELFUND gave the warning in a statement on Friday.

“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.

The agency urged anyone affected by the scam to report it immediately to the relevant authorities. It added that the official channel for student loan applications, which would be opened to the public in due course, is www.nelf.gov.ng.

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.

On April 18, FUND boss Akintunde Sawyerr on April 18 said the loan scheme is one per cent of the revenue per cent by the Federal Inland Revenue Service annually. 

(NAN)