The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has ordered the final forfeiture of 60 buildings illegally acquired by a former Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Adenike Ishola Bintu, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice O.A. Egwata ordered the forfeiture following a suit by Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The anti-graft body revealed this in a statement on Friday.
A total of 60 buildings and a 9.6-hectare plot of land, all located at Sabon-Lugbe South-West Extension, Airport Road, Abuja, were said to have been acquired by Ms Bintu illegally.
In the court proceedings, legal representation for the ICPC, John-Paul Okwor, had told the court that the Commission was relying on Section 48 (1) (2) and (3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, which empowered the body to approach the courts to forfeit properties illegally obtained by individuals.
The Commission had said Ms Bintu set up a private company called Faith Winners Victory Properties Limited, through which she sold plots of land to unsuspecting members of the public.
The court heard that Bintu claimed that the land, which she used to dupe over 1000 people that subscribed into the estate business, was owned in partnership with NSCDC.
The Commission also told the court that Ms Bintu violated the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Ms Bintu, who had in 2019 jumped bail, and now a fugitive, argued in her defence that the act had already been repealed and she had no case to answer to the anti-graft agency.
Mr Egwuata dismissed her argument and forfeited the disputed properties.
