Court orders forfeiture of N1.3bn to Nigerian govt

Justice Mohammed Mohammed of the Sokoto State High Court Monday granted a final forfeiture of N1.3 traced to the account of one Aishatu Bandado Magaji to the Federal Government.

The Head of Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in a statement sent to Ripples Nigeria.

He said the judge had on July 2 granted an interim order of forfeiture of the funds while ruling on an exparte application filed by the commission.

Justice Mohammed directed that the order be published in a national newspaper for anyone with interest in the said asset to show cause why it should not be finally forfeited to the federal government.

At Monday’s hearing, the EFCC counsel, S. H. Sa’ad said the commission had complied with the order for the publication of the interim order and urged the court to order the final forfeiture of the funds to the federal government.

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Counsel to the five respondents, Shamsu Dauda, did not oppose the application.

Justice Mohammed consequently ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the federal government.

The EFCC had through intelligence traced the funds, suspected to be proceeds of illicit activities to Magaji’s account domiciled in a new generation bank.

The respondents in the charge are Magaji, First Ninety Degrees Continental Limited, Priceless Legacy Hub Limited, ABM International Limited, and Zenith Bank Plc.

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