The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the final forfeiture of N293.97 million alongside several investment assets and landed properties linked to retired Major General Emmanuel Atewe to the Federal Government.

A three-member appellate panel, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Boloukuromo Ugo, dismissed the appeal filed by Atewe for lacking in merit.

The decision upheld the earlier ruling of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) a final forfeiture order after finding that the respondent failed to satisfactorily prove a lawful source for the assets.

The forfeited assets include N293.97 million in cash, 30,000 units in Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, and multiple real estate holdings across Abuja and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Investigations by the EFCC linked the assets to funds diverted from the military joint task force, Operation Pulo Shield, which Atewe previously commanded.

In rejecting the appeal, the court held that statutory protections under Section 123 of the Armed Forces Act apply exclusively to serving military personnel and not to retired officers. The justices also ruled that civil forfeiture proceedings carried out during an ongoing criminal trial do not constitute an abuse of court process, reaffirming the legal legitimacy of the asset recovery.