A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, ordered the forfeiture of landed property valued at over N3.7 billion belonging to a top military officer, whose name was not disclosed in the statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The various landed property, according to the EFCC were controlled through proxies including late General Aminu Maude as well as companies such as Atlasfield Integrated Services Nigeria Limited, Marhaba Events Place, Aflac Plastics and Atlasfield Gas Plant Limited.
Justice N.E. Maha granted the order while ruling on the application by Counsel to the EFCC, Cosmos Ugwu and Musa Isah.
The Court had, in May, 2020, ordered the interim forfeiture of the property following an ex-parte application by the Commission, alleging that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities. The Court, having considered the application vis-Ã -vis Section 17of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, more particularly Sub-Sections 1and 3 thereof, granted the prayers of the Commission for an interim forfeiture and directed the publication of notices, alerting anyone with interest in the various property to show cause why they should not be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Court, in the absence of any contestation, yesterday ordered the final forfeiture of the various property.
The forfeited property are located in different parts in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Cross River States.
