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The Court of Appeal in Lagos has upheld the final forfeiture of more than N293.97 million, multiple landed properties and investment assets linked to retired Major General Emmanuel Jebe Atewe.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday by Justice Boloukuromo Moses Ugo, the appellate court dismissed his appeal against an earlier judgment in favour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and affirmed the decision of the Nigerian High Court in Lagos, which ordered the final forfeiture of the assets to the government.
According to the EFCC, the assets were traced to funds “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities” following investigations into the alleged diversion of money released for the operations of the Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield.
The commission said the forfeited assets include N293,970,000, 30,000 MTN-linked units in Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, several high-value properties in Abuja, including plots in Jahi, Sabon Lugbe, Kuje, Gaube Farmland Extension II Layout and Sector Centre B Layout, as well as a commercial property in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The EFCC alleged that about N8.537 billion released to the Joint Task Force was diverted through companies and individuals acting as proxies.
“In the investigations by the EFCC, about N8.537 billion released to the Joint Task Force was allegedly diverted through a network of companies and individuals acting as proxies,” the commission said.
It added that “billions of naira were transferred to companies for services that were never rendered, with portions of the funds subsequently used to acquire various assets allegedly linked to Atewe through companies associated with him.”
The anti-graft agency further disclosed that its investigation traced N297 million to Cisco Nobots Limited, which was allegedly used in a property transaction in Port Harcourt.
“The Commission’s findings showed that N297 million traced to Cisco Nobots Limited was used in a property transaction in Port Harcourt, from which N290 million was eventually recovered by the EFCC,” it said.
The Nigerian High Court had initially granted an interim forfeiture order before making it final after holding that Atewe failed to satisfactorily explain the legitimate source of the assets.
Challenging the ruling, Atewe argued that the forfeiture proceedings were incompetent because he was entitled to protection under Section 123 of the Armed Forces Act, that the proceedings should not have commenced while criminal charges against him were pending, and that the trial court lacked jurisdiction.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed all the arguments.
According to the EFCC, the appellate court held that Section 123 of the Armed Forces Act did not apply because Atewe had already retired from military service when the forfeiture proceedings began.
“The court noted that Atewe admitted his retirement in his affidavit before the trial court and held that the statutory protection under Section 123 is available only to serving members of the Armed Forces,” the commission said.
The court also ruled that Atewe failed to establish the lawful source of the assets.
“The court further held that Atewe failed to sufficiently show how he legitimately acquired the assets in question, observing that his explanations merely referred to honoraria without establishing a lawful source for the assets,” the EFCC stated.
On Atewe’s argument that commencing forfeiture proceedings while his money laundering trial was pending amounted to an abuse of court process, the Court of Appeal disagreed.
“The institution of civil forfeiture proceedings during the pendency of criminal proceedings does not constitute an abuse of the judicial process,” the court held, according to the EFCC.
The appellate court subsequently dismissed the appeal for lacking merit and affirmed the judgment ordering the final forfeiture of the assets to the Nigerian Government.
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The… pic.twitter.com/Krq2bR3cCr
— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) July 22, 2026
