Court Orders Final Forfeiture of $20,000, CFA 110,000 To FG in Lagos

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, ordered the final forfeiture of the sums of $20,000 and CFA 110,000 to the Federal Government of Nigeria .

The monies were intercepted by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, at Seme Border in the Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State and handed over to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, for further investigation. 

The Judge gave the order, following a motion on notice filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos through its lawyer, H.U. Kofarnaisa. 

Justice Dipeolu had earlier ordered the interim forfeiture of the money and also ordered the publication of the said order in a national newspaper for any interested parties to show cause why they should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. 

Moving the application for the final forfeiture order, Kofarnaisa told the court that the application was supported by an 18-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mufassir Jega, an investigating officer of the EFCC.

Kofarnaisa also told the court that the Commission had published the interim forfeiture order in the Daily Trust newspaper of August 29, 2025, in compliance with the court’s directive. 

She, thereafter, submitted that the “monies are reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.”

Justice Dipeolu, consequently, held that the application was meritorious and accordingly granted the final forfeiture order as prayed.