US Court Orders Release Of Seized $6m Arms Funds to Nigeria

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 December 23, 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.

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 said.

For context, Nigeria had paid agents for the purchase of military equipment during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2014, but received neither the funds nor the equipment it intended to purchase.

The deal ran into a roadblock in August 2014 when the US government denied approval to purchase and export the arms to Nigeria because the agents were not approved to carry out the deal.

The US government seized the money, describing it as the proceeds of a violation of its Arms Export Control Act, on the grounds that the agency did not have the licence to engage in the sale, export, import and brokering of military products at the time.