A video purportedly showing large quantities of abandoned and deteriorated Nigerian currency has resurfaced online, with social media users expressing shock and questioning the circumstances surrounding the money.
An X user, CrownprinceCom2, shared the footage, describing it as an “unbelievable video” allegedly showing money recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“This is truly heartbreaking,” the post stated.
The video has since generated reactions online, with some users interpreting the footage as evidence of large amounts of money being abandoned or hidden by individuals suspected of financial crimes.
However, the claim that the footage shows money recently recovered by the EFCC is misleading.
A FactCheckHub investigation traced the same footage to an incident in Makurdi, Benue State, in December 2022, rather than a recent EFCC operation. The report said the materials shown in the video were discarded naira notes obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for waste management.
The fact-check said the EFCC and Benue State Police Command had previously clarified that the notes were not hidden or looted cash.
According to the report, the notes had been cut into pieces and rendered unusable, while the person who possessed them reportedly had documentation from the CBN authorising their collection for waste processing.
The viral claim comes at a time when the EFCC has been publicising significant financial-crime recoveries.
The commission said it recovered ₦1.233 trillion between October 2023 and July 2026, while securing 10,872 convictions during the same 34-month period. The figures were published by the EFCC and reported by Punch.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede also said in August 2026 that the commission had forfeited cash and assets worth more than $500 million to the Nigerian government during his first three years in office.
Those official recovery figures, however, do not establish that the money displayed in the circulating video was part of recent EFCC recoveries.
The resurfacing of the footage highlights the difficulty of determining the origin of viral videos without checking their history.
FactCheckHub concluded that the particular video had been repeatedly presented online as evidence of hidden or looted money in different locations, despite originating from the 2022 Makurdi incident.
As of publication, there is no evidence establishing that the video shared by CrownprinceCom2 depicts a fresh EFCC recovery.
The EFCC's documented recent recovery figures remain separate from the footage and should not be conflated with it.
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