A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities allegedly linked to Abubakar Malami, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice.

Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, granted the order on Tuesday after an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, Ekele Iheanacho.

In the ruling, the judge held that the properties, which are worth several billions of naira, were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and should be temporarily forfeited to the federal government.

Details later…