By Nkechi Eze
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola Junior of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has ordered the final forfeiture of a truck and its consignment of assorted solid minerals to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The ruling was delivered on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, following an application brought before the court by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, spokesperson for the Commission, the court held that the EFCC had successfully convinced the court on the need for the forfeiture, citing the refusal of the truck’s owner to come forward and claim the vehicle and its mineral cargo despite public notification.
In moving the application, EFCC counsel Sesan Ola informed the court that the truck, bearing registration number PKA216YR, along with its load of solid minerals, was intercepted by operatives of the Commission and had remained unclaimed.
“My Lord, our application is seeking a final order of this Honourable Court, forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria the truck with registration number PKA216YR with minerals contained therein, which came into possession of the operatives of the applicant as unclaimed property,” Ola stated.
He explained that the application was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, No. 14 of 2006, as well as Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a 17-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Jesse Chong, an operative of the EFCC, the Commission revealed that the vehicle was intercepted following actionable intelligence received in June 2024. The intelligence pointed to individuals allegedly involved in illegal mining, as well as the illicit purchase and possession of solid minerals within Kwara State.
Despite an interim forfeiture order being previously granted and advertised in a national daily (Leadership Newspaper), the EFCC noted that no claimant had come forward to identify the ownership of either the truck or the consignment reportedly totaling 30 tons of solid minerals.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Ariwoola held that the EFCC had presented sufficient grounds for the court to grant the final forfeiture. He thereafter ruled in favour of the Commission, ordering that both the truck and its mineral cargo be forfeited to the Federal Government as prayed.
The judgment represents yet another stride in the EFCC’s ongoing efforts to clamp down on economic crimes, particularly the illegal mining and trading of Nigeria’s solid mineral resources.
