On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, issued an order for the ultimate forfeiture of N2, 739,836,331.31, the profits of illicit solid mineral mining in the Endo Community of Nasarawa state.
A press statement by EFCC Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said the Judge gave the order following an application filed by the EFCC through its Counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN), dated September 27, 2024, asking for the final forfeiture of the sum to the federal government, pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006, having reasonably suspected it to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
He said the court had on July 8, 2024 granted an interim forfeiture order on the sum to the federal government which was published in The Punch Newspaper of August 8, 2024 as required by law to enable anyone with legitimate claim of ownership of the money to show forth.
Oyewale noted that, “At Wednesday’s proceedings, Counsel to the first and second defendant, Lideal Mines Ltd and Etong Agrotech Nigeria Ltd, respectively, Ibrahim Idris (SAN) informed the court of his withdrawal of the application on behalf of his clients, challenging the final forfeiture of the sum, which the prosecution welcomed with no objection.
According to the spokesperson, the forfeited funds were in four bank accounts, all belonging to the two defendants. While N102,835,460.85 was domiciled in a Zenith Bank account belonging to Lideal Mines Ltd, N1,288,265,692.11 was domiciled in Zenith Bank, N1,187,909,426.70 was domiciled in UBA, and N160,825,751.70 was domiciled in Globus Bank accounts, respectively, belong to Etong Agrotech Nigeria Limited.
He said Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until October 23, 2024 for hearing of application for the final forfeiture of other sums linked to the three defendants.
