A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the seizure of N10.7m traced to Ecole Supérieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT), Cotonou in Benin Republic University.
Recall the Federal Government of Nigeria sometime in 2023, set up a committee to investigate activities of degree mills in the university.
The panel was set up by the Federal Ministry of Education following an investigative report, exposing the activities of degree mills in Benin Republic.
However, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) through its spokesman, Demola Bakare, in a press statement on Monday evening, said N10.7m was traced to the account of Togboui Gnadzo Soncy Koakli, Vice Chancellor of the University.
According to Bakare, an ex-parte motion filed by Aniekan Ekong, Esq on behalf of ICPC before Hon. Justice Binta Nyako, alleged that the money, found in account number 1007884857 domiciled in Zenith Bank, was proceeds of degree racketeering.
The ICPC legal counsel had informed the court on how ICPC acted on intelligence and launched an investigation into an alleged criminal conspiracy and degree racketeering involving Togboui and his agents, the promoters of Access Institute of Advance Learning (AIAL) supposedly based in Kano.
Bakare gave the names of the promoters as Mubarak Hamza Adam, and Abdullahi Shehu Yusuf as well as one Abdulrahma Hadi Badamosi of the Federal College of Education, Kano.
According to the prosecutor, the group was investigated for alleged involvement in issuing fake degrees to Nigerians for a fee and explained to the court that they usually collect money from Nigerians desiring to procure degrees from ESGT and share it with Togboui.
Ekong further explained that some of their victims paid in cash while others paid through bank transfers as tendered before the court.
Meanwhile, the court granted the request made by the Commission for the interim forfeiture of the N10.7m.
The court also ordered for the publication of the said Preservation Order in a widely circulating national newspaper calling upon any interested party to show cause why the forfeiture should not be made.