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Lagos: Court grants EFCC’s request for permanent forfeiture of suspect property

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The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday ordered the final forfeiture of a property suspected to have been acquired with proceeds from unlawful activities.

Vacation judge, Justice Deinde Dipeolu, ruled that the property, situated at 26 Tolu Road, Olodi Apapa, within Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The order followed a motion on notice filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, represented by its counsel, Hannatu Kofarnaisa.

In January 2025, the court had initially granted an interim forfeiture of the property and directed that the order be published in a national newspaper to allow any interested parties to appear and show cause why the property should not be permanently forfeited.

During Friday’s proceedings, Kofarnaisa informed the court that no objections had been filed within the 14-day period provided after the publication, thereby paving the way for the final forfeiture.

The application was further supported by an affidavit sworn by Gyal Maina Gapani, an EFCC operative.

After reviewing the submissions, Justice Dipeolu found merit in the EFCC’s application and granted an order for the permanent forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government of Nigeria, in favour of Sterling Bank Plc.

In the affidavit, Gapani had stated, “that the Commission on the 18th day of July 2022, received a petition from Sterling Bank PLC bothering on criminal conversion of funds and stealing of funds belonging to the bank wherein an unauthorized transfer of huge sums of money was done.
“The petitioner alleged that the unauthorized transfer of funds was due to a system glitch in the bank wherein the total sum of N295.916,201.02 (Two Hundred and Ninety Five Million, Nine Hundred and Sixteen Thousand, Two Hundred and One Naira Two Kobo) was stolen by some customers of the bank and same converted to their own personal use.

“That as of the time the said customers allegedly stole the said sum, they do not have a corresponding sum in their accounts.

“That the alleged sum was stolen via PayAttitude Global Limited, which is an e-bank wallet and a payment scheme of the Sterling Bank Plc.

“That the commission wrote a letter to Pay Attitude Global LTD and they responded vide a letter dated 17th March 2023 forwarding the payment transaction scheme of the said Ojora Sulaimon Kehinde.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that due to the system glitch, one of the suspects, by name Ojora Sulaimon Kehinde, criminally converted the total sum of N89,000,000 (Eighty Nine Million Naira) belonging to Sterling Bank PLC.

“That in a bid to launder and fraudulently conceal the said sum, he transferred a substantial part of the said sum to his wife, Aminat Olatanwa Ojora, vide her bank account number domiciled with Sterling Bank PLC.

“That as at the time the said Ojora Sulalmon Kehinde transferred the said monies to the account of Aminat Olatanwa Ojora, his wife, using the PayAttitude platform to be used for the purchase of the property now sought to be forfeited.

“That the said Ojora Suleimon Kehinde did not have the corresponding sum in his account as at the time he transferred the monies to his wife.

“That the said Ojora Sulaimon Kehinde procured his wife to transfer the sum of 17,000,000 (Seventeen Mlilion Naira) to one Chuksy Odozy Osazuwa account number domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc for the purchase of a property situate and located at No 26. Tolu Road, Olodi Apapa, Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, now sought to be forfeited”.

“That Ojora Sulaimon Kehinde procured his brother Muritala Sulaimon Kehinde to front for him in the purchase and execution of the deed of assignment for the purchase of the said property situated and located at No 26. Tolu Road, Olodi Apapa, Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, now sought to be forfeited”.

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I’ll never go to Arise TV until he’s removed – Igbokwe on clash between Minister Umahi, Rufai

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A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe has vowed to steer clear of Arise Television until one of the TV’s presenters and show host, Rufai Oseni, is sacked.

Igbokwe’s remark followed a drama that ensued between the Minister of Works, David Umahi and Rufai during an interview on The Morning Show on Monday.

According to a trending video, the minister, who was furious over some questions that were put out to him by Rufai regarding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, asked the show host to keep quiet.

Umahi claimed he is a professor in the field of engineering and has vast knowledge regarding the federal government projects.

But Rufai became inquisitive and demanded to know the year the minister became a professor.

Reacting to the drama, Igbokwe in a Facebook post, said until Rufai is sacked, he will not appear on the TV station, stating that the station has “become a TV Station of anything goes.

“I will never go there again until Rufai Oseni is removed.

“The Animal Science graduate is making a mockery of Journalism. Televion Station is not a place for mediocres and noise makers”, the APC chieftain posted.

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Alleged Christian genocide: US Rep asks Trump to tag Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’

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A lawmaker representing West Virginia’s Second District in the United States House of Congress, Rep Riley M. Moore, has written to President Donald Trump, asking the US government to immediately designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concerns, CPC.

The letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, US Department of State in Washington DC, was sighted by Ekwutosblog on Tuesday.

In the letter, the lawmaker urged the US government to immediately halt sales of arms and all associated technical support to Nigeria until the “Nigerian government demonstrates that it is sufficiently committed to ending the reign of persecution and slaughter”.

Moore claimed that from January to September 2025 alone, no fewer than 7,000 Christians have been gruesomely murdered by “Muslim extremist groups”.

He alleged that at least 250 Catholic Priests have been attacked or killed across the country since 2015, stressing that “between Boko Haram uprising in 2009 and 2025, 19,100 churches in Nigeria have been attacked or destroyed”.

Ekwutosblog reports that President Trump had during his first tenure designated Nigeria as a CPC but his successor, former President Joe Biden reversed the designation.

 

US Senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, and political commentator Van Jones had also alleged that Nigeria is witnessing a “Christian genocide”.

During a recent podcast appearance with American talk show host Bill Maher, Senator Cruz alleged that Christians were being systematically targeted and killed in Nigeria, describing the situation as “genocide”.

But the Federal Government had since dismissed the report, stating that the deteriorating security situation in the country does not target a particular religion.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a recent statement, described the allegations as false, misleading and capable of inciting division.

According to him, the foreign commentators were “orchestrating wild allegations about unproven ongoing genocide” in Nigeria and urged Nigerians and the international community to reject attempts to “robe the country with a garment that is not hers”.

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Subject: A cashier at a Kingsway store.

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Location: Lagos, Nigeria.
Date: Circa January 1962.

Photographer/Source: Pix/Michael Ochs Archives.
Significance: The image captures the era of Kingsway Stores, which symbolized modern and cosmopolitan life in West Africa in the early 1960s.
About Kingsway Stores

Origins: The chain began as Lever’s Stores in 1922, evolving through Opobo Stores Ltd before becoming Kingsway Stores Ltd in 1947.

Expansion: The first store in Nigeria opened in Lagos in 1948, followed by others in cities like Freetown, Accra, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt.

Impact: Kingsway Stores represented a modern, western-style shopping experience, with departments for various goods, and were a popular shopping destination for Nigerians.

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