News
Court Orders Final Forfeiture Of Properties Linked To Emefiele
Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of a warehouse built on a 1.925-hectare property along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Magboro, Obafemi Owode local government area of Ogun State.
The court also ordered the final forfeiture of 54 general-purpose steel containers, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claimed are linked to a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN,) Godwin Emefiele.
The Judge ordered that the assets be forfeited to the federal government after no individual or organisation came forward to claim them.
On November 28, 2024, the judge had granted an interim forfeiture of the assets, directing the anti-graft agency to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to appear before the court and show cause why the assets should not be finally forfeited.
However, at the resumed hearing of the matter on Thursday, EFCC’s counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, informed the court that the commission had complied with the court’s directives.
Oyedepo also informed the court that the application for final forfeiture was made pursuant to Section 44(2)(B) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006, as well as the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
The lawyer urged the court to issue a final forfeiture order to the Federal Government of Nigeria for the properties listed in Schedule A, which includes the warehouse located at Km 8 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Magboro, and the 54 general-purpose steel containers, suspected to have been acquired through unlawful activities.
After reviewing the submissions of the anti-graft agency’s lawyer and the documents filed before the court, Justice Dipeolu granted the requested relief and ordered the final forfeiture of all the assets.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
US President-elect, Donald Trump’s incoming administration plans to immediately order a series of deportation raids targeting illegal immigrants after his inauguration.
Chicago is expected to be the first major city targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of Operation Safeguard, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with planning the undertaking.
The massive deportation operation is expected to target criminals and gang members in the United States illegally and run for one week.
Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history.
Up to 200 ICE agents are being sent to Chicago to help kick off the operation on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agency has already asked agents to volunteer for the post-inauguration raids.
“There’s gonna be a big raid across the country,” Tom Homan, who will be in charge of U.S. borders once Trump takes office, told Fox News in an interview.
Homan has previously said he will instruct ICE agents to carry out raids on illegal immigrants at their workplaces.
In addition to Chicago, the sweeping crackdown will also target other major U.S. cities with large immigrant populations.
Trump is set to take the oath of office on Monday, January 20, in an inauguration that will take place indoors.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A faith-based civil society organization, CSO that monitors and reports on Hajj and Umrah activities, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for selecting a different Saudi-based Hajj service provider for the 2025 Hajj season.
It said the decision would create healthy competition among service providers interested in efficiently, qualitatively, and satisfactorily serving Nigerian pilgrims.
The CSO, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Malam Ibrahim Muhammed, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and made available to our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja, said the quest for improved Hajj services has been a major challenge for Nigerian pilgrims owing to the repeated failure of providing satisfactory services.
”We applauded the decision to pick another service provider that will cater for the needs of pilgrims within the Masha’ir areas during the five days of Hajj,” he said
The national coordinator, who is currently in Saudi Arabia to monitor the pre-Hajj arrangements, said available information shows that the new company, Mashariq Al Dhahabia, is an experienced provider that has served top-rated Hajj countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, and ranked among the top five Hajj service providers by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
“The company served 249 706 which is the largest number of Hajj pilgrims during the 2023 hajj. They were awarded as the Best Hajj Service Providers during the 2022 Hajj by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah,” he stated.
IHR said it further understood that NAHCON is planning to recruit another service provider to provide services for very important personalities, VIP pilgrims so as not to repeat the experience of previous years, which is also a desired step forward.
It, however, urged NAHCON to set a parameter of performance for the newly selected service providers to serve as a baseline for determining continuous patronage, advising that such criteria should be based on pilgrims’ satisfaction and adherence to contractual terms.
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