The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the judgement ordering the final forfeiture of the assets linked to Emmanuel Atewe, a retired major general, to the federal government.
The appellate court, in a unanimous ruling delivered
virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, dismissed the Atewe’s appeal against the
judgement of the federal high court in Lagos.
Atewe was a former commander of the joint task force (JTF)
Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta.
THE FINAL FORFEITURE ORDER
On May 5, 2023, the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an
application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the
final forfeiture of several properties, cash and investment assets linked to
Atewe, which the anti-graft agency alleged to be proceeds of unlawful
activities.
Chukwujekwu Aneke, the presiding judge, had held that Atewe
failed to satisfactorily explain the lawful source of the assets after the EFCC
established reasonable grounds to suspect that they had been acquired with
proceeds of unlawful activities.
The judge also rejected Atewe’s arguments that the
forfeiture proceedings constituted an abuse of court process because he was
already standing trial in a separate criminal case involving the same
transactions.
The assets forfeited include N3.97 million in cash, plot
MF62 at the outer northern expressway, Abuja, plot No. 1228, Jahi, Abuja, plots
CP6386 and CP6387 at Sabon Lugbe east extension layout, Airport road, Abuja,
one-hectare parcels of land in Kuje district, a 50-hectare farmland at Gaube
farmland extension II Layout, Kuje, a parcel of land at Commercial layout,
Yenagoa Gardens, Bayelsa state, 30,000 MTN shares held by Stanbic IBTC Asset
Management Limited, and plot No. CP10, Sector Centre B layout, Kuje, Abuja.
The anti-graft agency had told the trial court that
investigations into the alleged diversion of over N8.5 billion belonging to the
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) through the JTF
(Operation Pulo Shield) revealed that funds were routed through several
companies and proxies before being used to acquire the assets.
The EFCC told the court that the properties were reasonably
suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Dissatisfied with the trial judge’s decision, the retired
major general approached the appeal court.
THE APPEAL COURT’S JUDGMENT
The appellate court presided over by Boloukuromo Ugo
resolved all three issues raised in the appeal in favour of the EFCC.
The court rejected Atewe’s arguments that the civil
forfeiture proceedings constituted an abuse of court process because he was
facing criminal trial over almost the same matter.
The appellate court held that the forfeiture proceedings at
the federal high court were directed solely against assets and not against the
person of the appellant.
The court held that section 123 of the Armed Forces Act
(AFA) and the decision in General Jafaru Muhammed vs EFCC, relied upon by
Atewe, were inapplicable to his case.
The court also held that while Jafaru was a serving military
officer, Atewe is a retired military officer.
The court ruled that the retired military officer failed to
show sufficient proof that the assets were acquired genuinely, adding that his
explanation referenced unspecified honoraria without providing adequate
evidence linking those payments to the acquisition of the properties.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com