This report uncovers more black holes, including property purchases and secret vaults of offshore havens into which a fugitive arms broker sunk millions of dollars obtained through Nigeria's dubious defence contracts.
In January 2015, arms broker Hima Aboubakar hosted a man and a woman for a meeting in his suite at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria's capital. Mr Aboubakar, who is from the neighbouring Niger Republic, routinely visited world capitals to secure and execute defence contracts, but this meeting at Transcorp Hotel was not about arms.
Less than two kilometres away, a 23-year-old house in Maitama, a choice district of Abuja, sat behind a line of leafy trees, unaware of the talk about changing its ownership.
By the time the meeting ended, Mr Aboubakar agreed to buy the property from the man for N400 million (more than $2.4 million at the prevailing exchange rate at the time). The woman would take a share of N12 million (over $73,800) fee for connecting the buyer and the seller.
Read the first part of this report here.
In the same month, Mr Aboubakar was at another meeting in Abuja, negotiating with the owner of four plots of undeveloped land in another part of the Maitama district. The negotiation ended with the parties agreeing on a price of N1.6 billion (or about $9.8 million) for the property.
In 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's leading anti-corruption agency, found that Mr Aboubakar bought the properties from the money meant for supplying desperately needed arms to the Nigerian military.
A review of newly obtained documents has revealed a more vivid picture of the real estate deals. The documents, which have never been made public, include statements the EFCC obtained from those who sold the properties to Mr Aboubakar. EFCC filed the documents at the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2020 for the forfeiture of the Maitama properties and bank account balances linked to the proceeds of dubious arms contracts awarded to Mr Aboubakar.
Besides casting new light on Mr Aboubakar's acquisition of the Maitama properties, this report uncovers more black holes, including an offshore haven, into which Mr Aboubakar sunk millions of dollars from the contract payments. As the sole signatory to his companies' bank accounts, he also transferred chunks of the funds to several foreign entities dealing in real estate, luxury items and many unclear ventures.
The new findings are layered on our previous reporting, which shed light on how Mr Aboubakar secured dubious defence contracts costed at hundreds of millions of dollars from the Nigerian government in April 2014. The report documented brazen diversion of the contract funds in whirlwinds of cash withdrawals and transfers to forex traders. The dubious deals imperilled Nigeria's defence against Boko Haram in the North-east but enriched Mr Aboubakar, who was found to have overpriced the contracts, undersupplied, and supplied faulty equipment.
Ben Ikani, a former prosecutor for the EFCC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), told PREMIUM TIMES that the lack of due diligence and the secrecy beclouding Nigeria's defence contract processes create veiled tracks for diverting the country's arms funds into money laundering schemes.
As of the time the Nigerian government awarded the multi-million-dollars defence contracts to Mr Aboubakar in April 2014, he had been involved in controversial ones in his native Niger Republic.
According to Mr Ikani, Nigeria offers fertile ground for money laundering activities, heightening the chances of diversion of public funds allocated to shadowy contracts.
"People take advantage of Nigeria's system, where the monitoring of real estate dealings and suspicious transfers of funds to local and foreign destinations is still very poor," he said.
Witnesses to horror
Sani Adamu, who was displaced from Baga in Borno State, North-east Nigeria, the epicentre of the Boko Haram war, in 2015, is a frontline witness and survivor of the horror of arms shortage suffered by the Nigerian military.
Now forced to live in a displaced people's camp in Hotoro in Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State, North-east Nigeria, Mr Adamu recalled how "shortage of arms resulted in mass killings of residents and looting of what was left of the army armoury by Boko Haram in Baga."
Before finally giving up on his attachment to Baga in 2015, he and his family incessantly fled the town alongside soldiers whenever Boko Haram members attacked.
The period - between 2014 and 2015 - was the height of Boko Haram's devastation in Borno. It was a remarkable phase of the Boko Haram war when some Nigerian troops refused to fight because of a lack of necessary support equipment, with the authorities responding by having them sentenced to death for mutiny. In stark contrast, it was the active period of the defence contracts that enriched contractors like Mr Aboubakar.
"I can recall the military mounted one of their artillery rifles in front of my house in Baga," Mr Adamu said in a sad voice, adding, "The military and mobile police officers stationed in Baga tried their best to protect us; some of them were killed in our presence. I can list the names of one hundred people I knew that Boko Haram killed."
Beginning the trail, those behind the Maitama property deals
We tracked $295.15 million and N350 million in contract payments to one of Mr Aboubakar's hurriedly set up fly-by-night companies, the Societe D'Equipments Internationaux (SEI) Nigeria Limited.
When EFCC began to scrutinise his use of the contract funds, the agency dug up several Nigerian bank accounts linked to him and SEI. We found and reviewed 10 of these accounts, although there were likely more government payments to his other accounts and companies yet uncovered by us.
Investigators spotted massive transfers from some of the accounts to individuals and entities within and outside Nigeria.
One of the recipients was Siminic Nigeria Limited, which received N400 million from Mr Aboubakar and SEI.
Siminic was owned by Nicholas Ugbane, who, with a female real estate agent, visited Mr Aboubakar in his Transcorp Hilton Hotel room in early 2015.
Mr Ugbane, 70, a businessman and politician, served two terms as a Nigerian senator. He was elected twice on the platform of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Kogi East Senatorial District from 2003 to 2011.
Before his foray into politics, Mr Ugbane was a banker. Before his retirement, he reached the position of Managing Director of the now-defunct Republic Bank, which was liquidated in June 1995.
The other company that also caught detectives' attention was Ibeto Cement Company Ltd, named after its 71-year-old owner, Cletus Ibeto. This company and its promoter received a total of N1.6 billion from Mr Aboubakar and SEI.
Mr Ibeto, an Nnewi, Anambra State-born industrialist with interests in diverse industries, including cement manufacturing and the hospitality sector, met with Mr Aboubakar in January 2015 to discuss a real estate deal.
Close-up on the N400 million, N1.6 billion deals
EFCC declared Mr Aboubakar wanted in 2020, although his lawyers said he returned permanently to his country, Niger Republic, in 2018.
In his absence, Mr Ugbane and Mr Ibeto helped anti-corruption operatives to link otherwise dumb bank record entries to tangible assets.
EFCC investigators questioned Mr Ugbane in early 2016 over the money he received from Mr Aboubakar. Bank records revealed that SEI transferred N160 million from its Zenith Bank Naira account 1013860768 (#0768) to Mr Ugbane's firm, Siminic, on 4 February 2015, less than a month after the Transcorp Hotel meeting. The SEI's naira account was heavily funded by forex traders who regularly received transfers from SEI's dollar accounts. The SEI's Naira account also received N350 million directly from the Nigerian government.
On 26 March 2015, Siminic also received N100 million from Mr Aboubakar's personal Naira account 1004540143 (#0143) at Zenith Bank and N50 million from SEI's Naira account (#0768) with the same bank. The personal bank account, too, derived its liquidity from massive Naira transfers from forex traders who received payments from SEI's dollar accounts.
Then, on 4 April 2015, Siminic received N90 million from the same SEI's naira account (#0768) to make a total of N400 million paid for Mr Aboubakar's acquisition of the property from Mr Ugbane.
The now 32-year-old property at 6 Ethiope Close, Maitama, Abuja, sits on 943 square metres of land, about the size of two basketball courts. The property comprises a five-bedroom duplex with two two-bedroom cottages.
Mr Ugbane recounted how he sold the property to Mr Aboubakar in a statement he penned on the afternoon of 29 February 2016 at the EFCC office in Abuja, when he honoured the commission's invitation."Between February and April 2015, various transfers totalling N400 million were transferred into my corporate account," the septuagenarian wrote.
He recalled expressing concerns about two of the four payments that came from SEI's account instead of Mr Aboubakar's personal account.
However, upon his enquiry from Mr Aboubakar's account officer "as to why the two payments came from Societe D'Equipment International(aux)," Mr Ugbane said, he was informed "that Hima Aboubakar was the owner of the company."
According to him, he subsequently signed all necessary documents brought to his house by Mr Aboubakar's agents "and handed over the certificate of occupancy to Suleiman Abba, the lawyer to Hima Aboubakar."
Mr Ugbane said their meeting at Transcorp Hotel in early 2015 was their first and last, adding, "After the transaction, I have not seen Hima Aboubakar again, and I have not had any other business transactions with him."
He completed the deal by paying a three per cent agency fee, amounting to N12 million, to the real estate agent Onyeji Chibuzor, who accompanied him to the Transcorp Hotel meeting with Mr Aboubakar.
Mr Ibeto's turn to answer EFCC's questions came on 7 March 2016. About a year earlier, on 23 March 2015, Mr Aboubakar transferred N1 billion from his personal account (#0143) at Zenith Bank and N600 million from SEI's account (#0768) to Mr Ibeto. The last transfer completed a total of N1.6 billion wired to Mr Ibeto's corporate account by Mr Aboubakar.
The industrialist wrote on the afternoon of 7 March 2016 at the commission's Abuja office that the payments followed a negotiation and agreement to sell four plots of land on Odoh Ibeto Close, Off Osun Crescent, Maitama, Abuja, to Mr Aboubakar.
According to him, during the January 2015 negotiation, they agreed on the price of N400 million for Plot 3515, N350 million for Plot 3516, N50 million for Plot 3519, and N500 million for Plot 3518, for a total of N1.6 billion.
The four contiguous plots of land measure over 1,569 metres square, about the size of two standard football pitches.
After receiving the full payment, Mr Ibeto signed a Deed of Conveyance and Power of Attorney between his company, All New Products Marketing Development Co. Limited, and Mr Aboubakar "as my transfer of ownership to him".
When contacted over the telephone for his comments on his encounter with EFCC, Mr Ibeto, who is accused of fraud by the EFCC in an unrelated case, said he could not remember the Mr Aboubakar matter.
For his part, Mr Ugbane, also unwilling to discuss the matter with PREMIUM TIMES, said over the telephone, "I have nothing to tell you".
Nigeria's money travels the globe, Czech Republic, France stand out
From the SEI's dollar accounts, which were 93 per cent funded by Nigeria's defence contract payments, the country's arms funds flowed to far-flung corners of the world, portraying vast trails of fund transfers not yet followed by the Nigerian authorities.
GIABA, the West African intergovernmental body focused on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, described Nigeria in its latest evaluation report released in 2021 as "a significant source country for criminal proceeds laundered in global financial centres, particularly stemming from domestic corruption, fraud and theft."
We tracked transfers from the SEI's contract accounts flowing to individuals and entities in France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bulgaria, Israel, Belgium, Slovakia, Czech Republic, South Africa, Niger Republic, Monaco, Pakistan, China and the Caribbean dual-island - Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The purposes of many transfers are unknown as the recipient entities do not have clear-cut online profiles. The firms also do not appear in searches on countries' online company registers.
However, open-source records show that some of them in countries like Pakistan, the US, Belgium, France, and Czech are involved in military hardware and security technology.
The Czech Republic and France stood out in the mix as places Mr Aboubakar was strongly connected to. Given the diverse range of entities he transacted with, these two countries clearly served as key destinations for his business dealings, shopping, and residence. The recipient entities in these countries include real estate firms, law firms and notary service providers, interior design firms, fabric manufacturers, and luxury car sellers.
We tracked $20.6 million he transferred in 25 transactions to Czech entities - the highest number of transfers from the two accounts to any one country - between September 2014 and May 2015.
In eight transactions, he also transferred $3.715 million to France.
Blackhole of offshore shell company
The whole truth about a significant chunk of the offshore transfers may never be known.
GIABA's 2021 mutual evaluation report stated that Nigeria "demonstrated limited ability to identify, investigate and prosecute both basic and complex money laundering activities," adding broadly that the country's law enforcement agencies lacked "adequate resources to perform the full range of their functions. "
Between September 2014 and April 2015, we found that Mr Aboubakar funnelled a total of $58.57 million from SEI's dollar accounts to Westan Group Associates, an offshore shell company incorporated in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Saint Kitts and Nevis, a dual-island nation located in the Caribbean Sea, is historically known for the financial secrecy it provides foreigners.
The amount of money Mr Aboubakar wired the island from SEI's accounts was the highest to any jurisdiction, nearly tripling the second-largest transfer of $20.6 million to the Czech Republic.
Payments to military officers
The EFCC accused Mr Aboubakar of bribing and distributing luxury cars to military officers involved in vetting arms procurement.
The anti-corruption agency charged John Kayode-Beckley, an air vice marshal (AVM) and then Director of Armament at the Nigerian Airforce, with receiving N10 million in gratification from Mr Aboubakar. The contractor transferred the money from SEI's Naira account to Mr Kayode-Beckley on 15 May 2015.
However, the trial judge, Adebukola Banjoko, then of the FCT High Court in Abuja, acquitted him on 6 July 2017, ruling that the EFCC failed to prove the money was a bribe. Mr Kayode-Beckley argued that the funds covered his estacode for his trips to Pakistan and South Africa and expenses incurred on behalf of Mr Aboubakar. The Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the acquittal on 17 February 2020.
Also, an AVM and then Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Air Force, Olutayo Oguntoyinbo, was prosecuted for accepting N166 million from Mr Aboubakar in 2014. The court acquitted him on 28 May 2019, ruling that there was no evidence that he had significant influence over the contract awards.
EFCC also charged Alkali Mamu, an AVM and former Chief of Administration of the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, with receiving $300,000 and luxury cars worth N27 million from the Nigerien contractor. The trial court acquitted Mr Mamu on 29 June 2018. However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reversed this decision, convicting him on 5 July 2020 for one count relying on his confessional statement.
Stalled arms procurement for Nigeria
Consistent with the dubious nature of the contracts, part of the funds SEI paid to buy arms for Nigeria were seized in South Africa and the US.
In 2014, the South African government seized $5.7 million SEI transferred to Cerberus Risk Solutions, a South African brokerage, citing the firm's lack of arms licence.
The US government similarly seized $8.6 million paid by Mr Aboubakar's SEI and its affiliates to US-based arms brokering firm Dolarian Capital Inc. (DCI) in the same year. The US government seized the money because DCI lacked a valid arms brokering licence. DCI's owner, Ara Dolarian, was jailed, while the Nigerian government is still entangled in an ongoing legal battle with the US government to recover the seized money.
'Technical escape'
On 15 June 2020, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim forfeiture of Mr Aboubakar's Maitama properties and account balances believed to be proceeds of money laundering and criminal breach of trust.
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Judge Anwuli Chikere ordered the EFCC to advertise the order in a national newspaper. With no one contesting the interim forfeiture after the advertisement, the judge issued a permanent forfeiture on 13 July 2020.
The federal government subsequently put the properties up for sale.
However, in August 2020, Mr Aboubakar's lawyers sought to reverse the forfeiture, claiming the EFCC misrepresented the facts.
Following Ms Chikere's retirement, the case was reassigned to Judge Emeka Nwite in 2022, who overturned the forfeiture, ruling that Mr Aboubakar, living abroad, was not properly notified.
When contacted for this story, Mr Aboubakar's lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said he would not discuss the case, given his new public service roles as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State. However, he broadly denied wrongdoing on behalf of his client in his filing contesting the forfeiture.
EFCC fights on amid uncertainties
EFCC appealed against the court's decision, insisting that it "is against the weight of evidence." It also applied to the court to stay the judgement pending appeal.
On 13 October 2022, the lower court granted EFCC a reprieve, staying the execution of the judgement and technically restoring custody of the properties to the commission for the time being.
As a result, the house on Ethiope Street remains unoccupied, and the land on Oboh Ibeto Close is shut and taken over by a bush. EFCC's red inscriptions of pending forfeiture orders remain conspicuous on both properties.
The EFCC did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES' request for comment on the case.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has yet to sit on EFCC's appeal since 2020. EFCC did not file its appellant's brief until January this year. As of our last check, Mr Aboubakar's lawyers have yet to file his respondent's brief.The appeal court will not hear the case until the parties submit all necessary filings. With the court's clogged calendar, a hearing is not in sight.
Meanwhile, the stay that EFCC rests on is a temporary measure, meaning that the future of the case and the confiscated assets remain uncertain.
That uncertainty has characterised the Nigerian government's efforts to hold officials and contractors who siphoned arms funds in the thick of the Boko Haram war accountable since 2015.Many top military officers indicted by the President Buhari-era Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP) were not charged. Many of those charged were freed by courts; only one military officer is known to have been convicted for receiving bribes from Mr Aboubakar.
Other accused persons like the then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, whom CADEP accused of not being able to account for over $2 billion in arms funds, have faced prosecution interminably since 2016.
Yet the amount at stake in these cases, including Mr Aboubakar's, far outstrips the approximately $650 million that Nigeria has received in "United States security assistance" since 2017.
"This situation creates an environment of impunity as we currently experience across the country," Lanre Suraj, who chairs the anti-corruption-focused civil society group Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), said of Nigeria's weak justice system and lack of political will of the nation's institutions to hold perpetrators of crimes accountable.
Mr Suraj said while "legal gymnastics of senior lawyers" stall corruption cases in court, enabling perpetrators to evade justice and dissipate the proceeds of crimes to frustrate prosecution, the victims of "murderous acts of terrorists In the North-east" have yet to see or experience justice.
The situation has forced many victims of the unending terrorism and misuse of arms funds in Nigeria to give up on earthly justice. Mr Adamu, who fled from Baga in 2015, said, "Whoever is responsible for the atrocities can only be free from a man-made system, but I believe that God will do justice to all of us."
*$1 to N162.5 was used as the average prevailing exchange rate in the first four months of 2014
Additional reporting by Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu
