Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, August 1, 2025, ordered the interim forfeiture of a property located at No. 29 Oyindamola Shogbesan Street, Park View Estate, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, over its alleged connection to a diesel supply fraud to the tune of N986,000,000 ( Nine Hundred and Eighty Six Million Naira).
The interim forfeiture order was made sequel to a motion ex-parte filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, C. C. Okezie.
The application was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Act and Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), seeking to preserve the property pending the hearing of a motion for final forfeiture.
Moving the application today, Okezie told the court that the property was allegedly purchased using proceeds from a fraudulent diesel transaction involving Mrs. Hannah Ify Nwaguzor, Ajayi Edward Olushola, and others.
She told the court that the application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by Waziri Abdullahi, an investigating officer of the EFCC.
According to him, the Commission received a petition from Prince Chukwulota Benneth Onuoha and two companies; G3 Solid Farms & Agro Allied Industries and Bohr Energy Limited, alleging that the suspects defrauded them under the guise of supplying Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) worth N986 million.
The petitioners were in May 2024, introduced to Nwaguzor and her associate, Olushola, by one Irene Abidemi. Based on their representations, Bohr Energy Limited transferred the funds to Mozann Global Merchants Limited on May 14 and 15, 2024 respectively.
However, no diesel was delivered, as the funds (N986 million) was allegedly diverted.
Investigations traced N500 million to Hola Jayu Nigeria Limited, from which N261 million was allegedly paid to Orobosa Michael Ubogu for the purchase of the property, which revealed that the funds used to acquire the said property were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
“The said property, described in Schedule A of the application, was acquired with proceeds of the alleged fraud and not from any legitimate source of income.”
Also, in a written address accompanying the motion ex parte, Okezie emphasised that the interim forfeiture was a preventive measure to safeguard suspected proceeds of crime.
She thereafter urged the court to grant the application in the interest of justice.
Justice Dipeolu after listening to the counsel’s submission, ordered interim forfeiture of the property.
The Judge also ordered the publication of the interim order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The matter was adjourned to September 2, 2025, for hearing on the motion for final forfeiture.
