Recovered $43.4m: Court orders forfeiture of Ikoyi flat

FLAT 7b where the sum of $43.4 million and N23,218,000 were recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission months ago has been temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

This was the ruling of a Federal high court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday.

Mrs Folashade Oke, wife of the sacked Director General of Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Mr Ayodele Oke, was named the as owner of the property the anti-graft agency.

The order of the court was sequel to an ex-parte application filed and argued before the court by the Economic and Financial 

Crimes commission EFCC legal Officer and Mr Rotimi Oyedepo.

In an affidavit sworn to by EFCC investigator, Musa Yusuf and filed before the court by Mr Oyedepo, the Deponent averred that base on intelligent report received by the commission that huge sums of money in foreign and local currencies being an unlawful property was surreptitiously kept in Flat 7b 16 Osborne road Ikoyi.

On the 12 of April, 2017, executed search warrant and recovering of the sums of $43,449,947, £27,800, N23,218,000 was registered with the commission’s exhibits keeper.

Thereafter, EFCC sought and obtained order of the court for an interim forfeiture.

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The following documents were also recovered:

A document titled Lagos Government Form 1c which bears Chobe Ventures Limited on the guarantee.

Similarly, four invoices for purchase of items from different companies bear the name of one Bunmi Olomo of 18a, modele road Surulere Lagos. With Telephone number 08033805749.

Also recovered are waybills and proforma invoice issued by Lethal World to Chobe ventures.

The commission wrote a letter to Corporate Affairs Commission for the particulars of the Directors of Chobe ventures Limited and got a response, that the Directors of Chobe ventures are Mrs Ayodele Folashade Oke and Mr Ayodele Oke junior and that Folashade Oke is the wife of the dismissed Director General of National intelligence Agency NIA.

However, in his ruling, the presiding judge, Saliu Seidu ordered that the property should be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The presiding judge also directed that the order should be published in a National Daily Newspaper for any interested person to come forward within 14 days of the publication to show cause while the property should not be permanently be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Thereafter, justice Seidu adjourned till 30th of November, 2017