A cache of foreign currency seized at a Nigerian border is now the permanent property of the state, a judge ruled Wednesday, finalizing the government’s claim on funds suspected of being linked to crime.
In a decisive move, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi issued a final forfeiture order for the sums of $20,000 and CFA 110,000, formally transferring them to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The ruling closes the legal chapter on money that no one came forward to defend.
The path to forfeiture began months earlier when the Nigerian Customs Service intercepted the funds at the Seme Border. The case was subsequently transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which initiated legal proceedings.
“The monies are reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities,” EFCC lawyer H.U. Kofarnaisa stated in court, according to the official release.
Justice Dipeolu had initially granted an interim forfeiture order in August, mandating that the EFCC publish a notice in a national newspaper, the Daily Trust, challenging any interested party to step forward and justify why the money should not be forfeited.
With the publication period elapsed and the funds remaining unclaimed, the judge found the EFCC’s application for a permanent order to be “meritorious,” effectively signing the unclaimed currency over to the government.
The final forfeiture underscores a key legal tool used by authorities to combat financial crime, ensuring that suspected illicit assets intercepted at the nation’s borders can be repurposed for public use.
