Nigeria has won a prolonged legal battle to recover over $6 million in arms funds that had been seized by the United States government since 2014.
The funds were seized about a decade ago from an arms broker, who was trying to supply military equipment from the US to Nigeria without having the necessary licence.
The US government said the arms broker’s active involvement in the sale, export, and supply of military products to Nigeria without authorisation was a violation of the Arms Export Control Act, leading to the seizure of the funds.
However, in a ruling on 23 December, the US District Court for Eastern California ordered the release of the funds totalling about $6.02 million after confirming Nigeria’s interest in it.
The US government said the arms broker’s active involvement in the sale, export, and supply of military products to Nigeria without authorisation was a violation of the Arms Export Control Act, leading to the seizure of the funds.
A copy of the ruling seen by PREMIUM TIMES shows that Judge Jenniffer Thurston issued a permanent order of forfeiture of the money in favour of Nigeria, modifying the earlier January 2020 preliminary order forfeiting the assets to the US government.
The judge ordered the US government to release the money with the accrued interests to the Nigerian government within 60 days.
“Within sixty (60) days from entry of this Stipulation for Final Order of Forfeiture and Order Thereon, the US Customs and Border Protection shall return the above-listed assets to Petitioner, along with any interest earned by the United States while on deposit in an interest-bearing account,” a copy of the court order seen by PREMIUM TIMES read.
Seizure
Until the judgment, Nigeria faced a double whammy, having paid agents for the purchase of military equipment during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2014, but receiving neither the funds nor the equipment it intended to purchase.
Nigeria paid the $6.02 million trapped in the US to an American arms broking firm, Dolarian Capital Inc (DCI).
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