A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered an interim forfeiture of 40 landed property belonging to the embattled former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently in custody in the United Kingdom.
Justice Inyang Ekwo made the order following an ex-parte motion filed and moved by Ibrahim Buba on behalf of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
While granting the order, the Judge ordered the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order of the properties in a national daily within seven days.
He specifically directed that anybody who had interest in the forfeited property to indicate within 14 days of the publication of the interim forfeiture order why the assets should not be permanently forfeited.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter till December 5, 2022 for a report, in case there was any objection from members of the public regarding the said properties.
The interim forfeiture order covers Ekweremadu’s properties as follows; 10 properties in Enugu, three in the United States of America, two in the United Kingdom, one in Lagos, nine in Dubai, the United Emirate Republic and 15 located in the Federal Capital Territory.
The former Deputy Senate President and his wife are currently standing trial in the United Kingdom over alleged organ harvest, another matter that is not related with the said properties.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has criticised the move by the EFCC, which culminated in the interim asset forfeiture order issued by a Federal High Court in Abuja against former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
Group Coordinator, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement on Friday, said the asset forfeiture lawsuit at a time Ekweremadu was in custody, facing trial in the United Kingdom, and unable to defend himself or properly brief his lawyers was malicious, immoral, in bad faith, and tantamount to a country throwing her citizen under the bus.
His criticism centred on the anti-graft agency joining forces with the London Metropolitan Police to keep Ekweremadu imprisoned forever despite his efforts to bail him out.
