Court orders interim forfeiture of $2.8m seized at Enugu airport

A federal high court in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, has ordered the interim forfeiture of the $2.8 million intercepted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.

A. Mohammed, a judge, gave the order following an application by EFCC through Anasoh Onyedikachi, its counsel.

The judge directed the publication of the order in national newspapers in line with section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006.

The commission had arrested Ighoh Augustine and Ezekwe Emmanuel, workers of Bankers Warehouse, on December 20.

Toni Orilade, spokesman of the EFCC, had said the suspects, who were caught with consignments of two suitcases containing $1.4 million each, confessed that they had been in the business of conveying cash for some banks for over six years and were in the process of doing same for another bank when they were arrested.

Tony Orilade, acting spokesman of the commission, said they were arrested based on intelligence report.

Union Bank had said it commissioned those arrested to carry out the transaction on its behalf.

The bank dismissed the allegation of the EFCC that the suspects were carrying out an illegitimate act when they were arrested.

Bankers Warehouse also reacted to the development through a letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a letter addressed to the CBN deputy governor, Lawrence Ijebor, Bankers Warehouse head of operations, sought the intervention of the apex bank.

“Despite the information provided, the EFCC insisted on detaining our employees, taking possession of our goods and threatening to confiscate the currency, without making themselves available to our senior managers or other agencies familiar with our movements,” the letter read.

“We seek your intervention as our regulator, to address this issue of constant harassment of our staff, by security agencies.”