THE Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of a staggering $7,000,000 (about ₦10.8 billion) in cash that was mysteriously abandoned inside the vault of a commercial bank branch located at 114 Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
News Point Nigeria reports that Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling on Monday, granting the prayers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had earlier secured an interim forfeiture order on August 27.
Lead prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told 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 interest in the funds to come forward.
“But since that publication, no person or company has come to claim the money,” Oyedepo submitted, urging the court to grant the application for final forfeiture.
Although a lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, appeared in court 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 before the court and therefore granted the order, ruling that the $7 million be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
In a detailed affidavit filed in support of its application, the EFCC narrated how its operatives, acting on credible intelligence, traced and recovered the funds.
According to the anti-graft agency, the money was moved into the bank in suspicious circumstances between March 25 and 26, 2025, and was never credited to any customer’s account. Instead, investigators discovered that the cash was kept secretly in the bank’s vault.
The affidavit stated that Agba Emmanuel Fortune, the bank’s cash officer, admitted during interrogation that two men, Sulieman Sani (later identified as Fagge Sani Sanusi via NIMC records) and Idris Ahmed Olatunji had physically brought the $7 million in tranches and handed it over to him.
Further investigation revealed that Ifeoma Delphine Nwogbo, the bank’s Relationship Officer, had knowledge of the transaction and alleged that the funds belonged to the managing director of a certain company.
However, when contacted, the company’s managing director denied ever bringing $7 million to the bank. She stated that she had only taken a loan of $7 million from the bank, which she had not yet repaid.
The EFCC faulted the bank for failing to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) despite the unusual nature of the transaction.
The commission concluded that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, as there was no record to show that they represented any legitimate income of the couriers, the bank officials, or the company in question.
The entire $7 million has since been moved from the commercial bank and deposited safely with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pending the outcome of the case, which has now ended with the court’s order of final forfeiture.
“This judgment is a strong signal that unclaimed funds or suspicious cash lodgments will not be allowed to sit idle in the financial system,” said a senior lawyer, Oluwole B O SAN, who spoke with News Point Nigeria.
“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.