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Court orders temporary forfeiture of ex-NAF chief’s properties to Nigerian govt
Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Friday ordered the temporary forfeiture of 12 landed properties linked to a former Director of Finance at the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Jacobs Adigun, to the Federal Government.
Justice Liman gave the order while ruling on an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the 12 landed properties, scattered across Lagos and Abuja, were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an N21.4billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Adigun alongside Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo and a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.).
In an affidavit filed in support of the ex parte application, an investigating officer of the EFCC, Akube Okechuckwu, said the N21.4billion included N200million paid on January 7, 2014, into NAF Operations account by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), N3billion maritime security support paid to NAF by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in September 2014; and N18.2billion moved out of NAF accounts into various cronies’ companies.
According to him, the N21.4billion was diverted through seven firms, namely: Juda Oil and Gas Limited; Namaliki Investment; Lebol Oil and Gas Limited; Hakuri Oil and Gas Limited; Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited; Delfina Oil and Gas Limited and Trapezites BDC.
The EFCC lawyer, Oyedepo, told Justice Liman that it would be in the interest of justice for the court to order a temporary forfeiture of the properties.
The properties in question are – No. 27 Agodogba Avenue, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos; No. 40A Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; Plot 164, Victoria Island Annex (Sinari Daranijo Street), VI, Lagos; Block 54A, Plot 14, Lekki Peninsula Scheme One; Capador Plaza, Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse II, Abuja; Plot 762 Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja; and No. 39 Agdez Street, Wuse II, Abuja;
Others are – Sand Lake Hotel, Plot 3497 Sand Lake Street, Maitama, Abuja; Plot No. 61 Lake Chad Street, Maitama Abuja; No. 2 Imo Rivers Close, off Danube Crescent, Maitama, Abuja; and No. 2 River Palata Street, Maitama, Abuja.
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