Court orders final forfeiture of abandoned $7m in Lagos bank
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of $7 million, approximately ₦10.8 billion, that was found abandoned inside a commercial bank’s vault in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling on Monday, granting the request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had previously secured an interim forfeiture order on August 27.
Lead prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), informed the court that the EFCC complied with the court’s directive to publish the interim order in a national newspaper on September 1, inviting anyone with a claim to the funds to come forward. “But since that publication, no person or company has come to claim the money,” Oyedepo stated, urging the court to grant the final forfeiture.
Although a lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, appeared on behalf of an unnamed interested party, he told the judge he had no objection to the EFCC’s application. Justice Nwite noted that there was no counter-affidavit or objection filed, and therefore granted the order, ruling that the $7 million be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
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In an affidavit supporting its application, the EFCC detailed how its operatives, acting on credible intelligence, traced and recovered the funds.
The anti-graft agency stated that the money was moved into the bank under suspicious circumstances between March 25 and 26, 2025, and was never credited to any customer’s account. Instead, investigators discovered the cash was secretly kept in the bank’s vault.
The affidavit revealed that the bank’s cash officer, Agba Emmanuel Fortune, admitted during interrogation that two men, Sulieman Sani and Idris Ahmed Olatunji,physically brought the $7 million in tranches.
The bank’s Relationship Officer, Ifeoma Delphine Nwogbo, was aware of the transaction and allegedly stated the funds belonged to the managing director of a certain company. However, the managing director denied ever bringing the money to the bank, stating she had only taken a $7 million loan from the bank that she had not yet repaid.
The EFCC faulted the bank for not filing a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), given the unusual nature of the transaction.
The commission concluded that the funds were likely proceeds of unlawful activity since there was no record to show they were legitimate income for the couriers, the bank officials, or the company.
The entire $7 million has since been moved from the commercial bank and deposited safely with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A senior lawyer, Oluwole B O SAN, commented that “this judgment is a strong signal that unclaimed funds or suspicious cash lodgments will not be allowed to sit idle in the financial system.” He added, “If you cannot prove ownership or legitimacy, the law allows the government to take it over.”
With the court order now in place, the $7 million will be credited to the Federal Government’s account as part of Nigeria’s asset recovery proceeds.
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