Court Grants EFCC Consent to Seize Tompolo’s Assets

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday gave its assent to a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to seize all but one of the properties belonging to the former Niger Delta militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

Presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba gave the order after Tompolo again failed to appear in court to honour a summons on an alleged fraudulent land contract for the construction of the Nigerian Maritime University.

The anti-graft agency had on Wednesday filed a motion before the court, seeking to freeze Tompolo’s assets. This was after the commission declared him wanted in a newspaper advertorial, following two bench warrants issued against him by the court.

The EFCC is accusing Tompolo and nine others of diverting and converting N46bn belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. But Tompolo has denied the allegation, accusing the Federal Government of coming after him because he refused to join the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

On Friday, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Festus Keyamo told the court that the efforts by all security agencies to arrest Tompolo had yielded no result, as they were yet to get hold of the first accused person.

The presiding judge consequently granted the application for the EFCC to “seize all the properties belonging to Tompolo except all properties of Global WestVessel Specialist Ltd”.