Court orders final forfeiture of 52 Lagos properties allegedly linked to unlawful activities

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of 52 terrace and maisonette units allegedly linked to proceeds of unlawful activities involving Fielddreams Limited, Ifeanyi Nweke and Amex Savings and Loans Limited.

Justice Alexandra Owoeye issued the forfeiture order in a ruling delivered on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, declaring that the properties be forfeited to the Federal Government after finding that they were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The properties are located at Mercyville Estate, Covenant Way, off New Road, Ilasan, Lagos.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed the development in a statement on Saturday through its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale.

According to the anti-graft agency, the order followed a Motion on Notice filed and argued by its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 through counsel, Franklin Ofoma.

The EFCC recalled that it had earlier secured an interim forfeiture order for the properties on August 14, 2024, from Justice Akintayo Aluko after filing an ex parte application.

READ ALSO; Lagos Taskforce arrests 56-year-old man for dumping refuse in drainage channel [Video]

Following the interim order, the court directed the Commission to publish the forfeiture in a national newspaper, inviting any interested persons to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

The respondents subsequently filed affidavits opposing the application.

In their initial affidavit, they claimed that the funds used to develop the 52 housing units were generated from the sale of 29 terrace and maisonette units valued at N1.9 billion.

However, the EFCC noted that the respondents later contradicted themselves by alleging that several of the housing units had not been completed by some of the applicants.

The Commission argued that this conflicted with their earlier deposition in which they stated that the proceeds from the sale of the 29 units were used to complete the furnishing and interior decoration of the remaining buildings, insisting that construction had been completed in 2020.

During the hearing, EFCC counsel Franklin Ofoma informed the court that the Commission had fully complied with the publication requirement contained in the interim forfeiture order.

He further submitted that the application was supported by a 31-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Afolabi Seyi Oladele, a litigation officer in the EFCC’s Legal Department.

According to him, the Commission had established reasonable grounds to believe that the properties represented proceeds of unlawful activities and therefore urged the court to grant the application.

Ofoma also informed the court that the second respondent, Ifeanyi Nweke, remained a fugitive facing criminal charges.

He told the court that Nweke had failed to appear before two Lagos State High Courts to answer charges filed against him, despite previously being granted administrative bail by the EFCC.

The counsel further disclosed that two subsisting warrants of arrest had been issued against Nweke following his failure to honour court proceedings.

In her ruling, Justice Owoeye held that the respondents’ affidavits contained material contradictions that rendered their evidence unreliable.

The judge ruled that the court could not selectively rely on contradictory evidence presented by the respondents and consequently rejected their affidavit in its entirety.

She held that with no credible opposition to the EFCC’s application, the Commission had successfully demonstrated reasonable suspicion that the properties were proceeds of unlawful activities.

Justice Owoeye therefore granted the application and ordered the final forfeiture of the 52 terrace and maisonette units to the Federal Government.

The ruling marks another significant asset recovery recorded by the EFCC in its ongoing efforts to recover assets allegedly acquired through illicit means.