By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Reporter
YEARS OF uncertainty over Nigeria’s $6.02 million in seized arms funds have ended with a US court ruling in favour of the West African nation.
The funds were confiscated in 2014 after an arms broker attempted to sell military equipment to Nigeria without proper licensing, violating the United States Arms Export Control Act.
On 23 December, Judge Jennifer Thurston of the US District Court for Eastern California issued a final order for the permanent forfeiture of the funds to Nigeria.
The ruling mandated the US Customs and Border Protection to release the money, along with accrued interest, to the Nigerian government within 60 days.
The case stems from payments made by Nigeria to Dolarian Capital Inc., a US-based arms dealer, at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency.
As the country struggled to combat terrorism in 2014, it transferred $6.02 million to secure military equipment.
The arms procurement deal involved Hima Aboubakar, a broker from Niger Republic, who gained access to questionable defence contracts.
The deal fell apart in August 2014 when the US government denied Dolarian’s application for approval to sell and export the arms.
Despite the failed transaction, the broker had already received payment.
The US government moved swiftly, describing the funds as proceeds of a violation of its Arms Export Control Act.
It froze the assets in five separate bank accounts and obtained preliminary court orders for forfeiture.
Dolarian later faced criminal charges and pleaded guilty in 2020 to unauthorised brokering of military equipment.
Despite this, Nigeria remained the sole claimant to the funds during the US government’s invitation for interested parties to come forward.
Efforts to recover the money gained traction in 2021 when Nigeria engaged US-based lawyer Jovi Usude to initiate legal proceedings.
Between 2021 and 2023, Nigeria’s legal representatives exchanged correspondences with the US government.
However, the process stalled until 2 June 2023, when the Nigerian government formally filed a petition to assert its superior interest in the funds.
The petition outlined that Nigeria was unaware of Dolarian’s lack of proper authorisation to broker arms sales and urged the court to recognise its rightful claim to the funds.
This marked a turning point in the legal battle, leading to the US government’s eventual concession in December 2023.
A stipulation signed by Assistant US Attorney Kevin Khasigian confirmed Nigeria’s legal interest in the funds.
The document was filed in court, enabling Judge Thurston to issue the final order of forfeiture in favour of Nigeria.
The funds will be released to the Nigerian government through Mr Usude’s law office’s Client Trust Account.
This case highlights systemic issues in Nigeria’s arms procurement process, particularly during the Boko Haram insurgency.
Mismanagement and irregularities were rampant, with other instances such as South Africa seizing $5.7million of Nigerian funds in 2014 for similar reasons.
Further investigations during the Muhammadu Buhari administration revealed widespread misuse of arms funds.
An audit committee uncovered that $2 billion was unaccounted for under the then-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who allegedly distributed funds to cronies and political allies.
