The Abuja Federal High Court has ordered the final seizure of 60 buildings illegally acquired by a former Deputy Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Adenike Ishola Bintu, from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Independent Commission on Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes (ICPC) had requested the final confiscation of the 60 buildings and a 9.6 hectare site, both located at Sabon-Lugbe South-West Extension, Airport Road, Abuja.
ICPC spokesperson Azuka Ogugua, who disclosed this in a statement Thursday, said the assets are alleged to have been acquired by Ms Bintu through corrupt means.
ICPC case
ICPC attorney John-Paul Okwor told the court that the commission relied on Section 48 (1) (2) and (3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Act, 2000, which empowered it to to request the court for the confiscation of assets acquired in a corrupt way by individuals.
The commission had argued in court that the former NSCDC official established a private company, Faith Winners Victory Properties Limited, through which he was said to have fraudulently sold parcels of land to unsuspecting members of the public.
The court heard that Ms. Bintu claimed that the land, which she used to deceive more than 1,000 people who signed up for the real estate business, was owned by NSCDC.
However, the subscribers, who had made several payments worth millions of naira, were not allocated plots of land, nor did Ms Bintu and her company return their funds.
The CIPC also argued in court that Ms. Bintu, who claimed she had jumped bail and is now a fugitive, did not partner with NSCDC to build properties for members of the public, as she alleged.
Defending
He told the court in his argument that the ICPC had no powers to prosecute civil cases and that sections 6 and 48 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Act of 2000, on which the commission relied, had been repealed by the version amended from the 2003 law. Therefore, he prayed that the case would be resolved.
Decision
Judge OA Egwuata, in his ruling, dismissed his arguments for lack of merit.
It then ruled that all 60 buildings and 9.6 hectares of land located at Sabon-Lugbe South-West Extension, Airport Road, Abuja, listed by the ICPC would be confiscated from the federal government.