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US Government Seizes Nigeria’s $6.1 Million Over Illegal Arms Deal
JomogNews Nigeria reports that the United States has seized about $6.1 million belonging to Nigeria after a hired arms supplier pleaded guilty to charges including illegal dealing in military-grade weapons and money laundering, court documents reviewed by Peoples Gazette said.
Judge Erica Grosjean of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ordered the forfeiture after Ara Dolarian, an unlicensed armed dealer hired by the Nigerian government to help circumvent U.S. ban on arms sale to Nigeria, admitted conducting arms sale without requisite approvals.
Mr Dolarian, who initially denied any wrongdoing, was arrested on May 15, 2019, and pleaded guilty on June 27. His sentencing hearing will open on September 24, 2021, and may be concluded on October 6, 2021, court filings said.
For pleading guilty, Mr Dolarian would face years in prison and would also forfeit $6,024,806.45 cash trapped in various U.S. banks and entities under his name and his businesses. A brand-new BMW vehicle was also confiscated and would be sold by the U.S. government, documents said.
The Gazette saw in the documents that Sambo Dasuki, President Goodluck Jonathan’s national security adviser, contracted Hima Aboubakar, the controversial promoter of Societe D’Equipments Internationaux (SEI), to help broker a deal for high‑explosive bombs, rockets, military-grade firearms and aircraft-mounted cannons to be deployed against Boko Haram insurgents.
The deal came as 2015 general elections loomed and Mr Jonathan appeared desperate to rout out Boko Haram elements and boost his re-election efforts.
To execute the deal, Mr Aboubakar, a citizen of Niger Republic, entered a sales agreement with Mr Dolarian, who did not have license to export arms or broker arms deals as the U.S. had restricted the sale of arms to countries known for flagrant human rights abuses under the Leahy amendments.
“At no point did Ara Dolarian (Dolarian), Dolarian Capital Inc. (DCI) or their affiliates receive DDTC approval to broker defense articles to Nigeria,” the U.S. Homeland Security said in the charges.
Although Mr Dolarian had submitted an application requesting a licence to broker military equipment transactions, it was rejected by the DDTC. But that did not stop him from proceeding to present himself to Nigerian authorities as a qualified arms dealer.
The weapons were valued at $8,616,042.50, and while the sales agreement lasted between June and September, 2014, Mr Dolarian received $8,618, 647.00 in wire transfers facilitated by Mr Dasuki through the Central Bank of Nigeria and First Bank.
Court documents said Mr Dolarian through his business partner, Myron Smith, received a $4,998,647.00 from Hong Kong-based SK-Sawki Limited, owned by Mr Aboubakar’s friend. The arms dealer received the remaining $3.6 million from Mr Aboubakar’s company also paid into Mr Smith’s account.
Mr Dasuki was at the centre of a multibillion-dollar arms purchase scandal that rocked Nigeria in 2015 and 2016. He was held in custody for more than four years, with the Buhari regime releasing him only in December 2019 after disobeying several court orders to free the Sokoto prince.
Prosecutors said Mr Aboubakar’s partner in Hong Kong received about $20 million in two wire transfers from the Nigerian government. The first wire transfer was on May 28, 2014, and the second entered on June 9, 2014.
Prosecutors subsequently revealed that Mr Aboubakar had received $20 million for the arms deal from Nigeria, but only paid $8.6 million to Mr Dolarian for supplies. Nigerian government officials and security chiefs have long faced allegations of profiting from the decade-long war on Boko Haram.
Court documents said the transactions showed how Mr Dolarian, his allies and businesses violated the Arms Export Control Act, describing their activities as “specifically unlawful.” Consequently, all identified proceeds would be forfeited to the U.S. government.
Before U.S. authorities were able to enforce forfeitures, Mr Dolarian had already used part of the $8.6 million for personal expenses and settlement of outstanding taxes. He also bought a 2011 model BMW SUV and transferred the rest to numerous accounts held by him, his wife, his associates, a purported furniture company, amongst others.
Out of the $8.6 million Mr Dolarian received from the Nigerian government, the U.S. seized over $6 million that remained in his account as of February 2015.
Nigeria did not play any role in the litigation, indicating that the U.S. government will pocket all the $6.1 million recovered. Mr Dolarian now faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines.
Mr Aboubakar was declared wanted by the EFCC as part of several controversial arms deals he brokered for Nigeria, but the anti-graft office was unable to apprehend him or file competent charges in court.
The Lagos State Government has officially announced the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, set to resume on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
This marks the return of the state-wide cleaning culture nearly ten years after its suspension in 2016.
Residents are expected to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in front of their homes, and dispose of waste responsibly as part of efforts to improve environmental hygiene and tackle waste management challenges.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Saturday, disclosed the development in a statement, explaining that the exercise would officially restart later in the year.
“I am pleased to inform all Lagosians that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will resume effective Saturday, 25th April 2026, holding on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
“During this period, residents are enjoined to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in their frontages, and dispose of waste properly as a civic responsibility.”
Wahab urged residents to view the initiative as a shared duty toward building a healthier city, stressing that the government would ensure strict compliance.
“This exercise is a collective responsibility and a vital part of our commitment to a cleaner, healthier, and flood-resilient Lagos. And it shall be backed with the full enforcement weight of the Lagos State Government,” he said.
Explaining the significance of reintroducing the sanitation culture, the commissioner said the state was returning to a practice that once formed part of Lagosians’ lifestyle.
“Let me formally say this and say it boldly. Mr Governor and his deputy are taking a very audacious step. For those who don’t know, prior to 2016, we had a culture that emphasised cleanliness as next to godliness.
“Once every month, we took our time to clean up our surroundings and then maintain them sparkling. However, for some years, we stopped it.”
He said the absence of the exercise had contributed to mounting environmental pressures in the state.
“Now, waste, debt, and environmental challenges have become an existential challenge to us as a state. It’s taken us over a year to debate, talk, and agree that it’s time to reintroduce a monthly environmental sanitation,” Wahab said.
Appealing to residents for cooperation, he urged Lagosians to dedicate a small portion of their time each month to environmental cleanliness.
“It’s a plea that it is time for us to give up just one or two hours a month. In our marketplaces, every Thursday, we observe environmental cleanliness. But this time, we are saying as a state, let us sit back once a month and observe the cleanliness of our environment as we used to before 2016.”
JomogNews reports that the monthly sanitation exercise, previously held on the last Saturday of every month between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., was suspended in November 2016 following a legal pronouncement restricting movement during the exercise.
The suspension later coincided with growing waste management concerns, including clogged drainage channels and indiscriminate refuse disposal across parts of the state.
President Bola Tinubu has urged the media to extend their scrutiny to State and Local Governments, noting that his administration’s reforms have significantly increased their financial allocations.
During an interfaith breaking of fast with media executives on Friday, the President emphasized that sub-national governments now enjoy greater financial autonomy and should be held accountable for grassroots development.
Tinubu said his administration’s economic reforms, especially the removal of the petrol subsidy, have increased funds available to states.
“We have opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money. But how they use it is in your hands, so don’t bombard me alone. Look at local governments too, and equally, the sub-national,” Tinubu said.
“Today, there is no state that is borrowing to pay the salaries of employees. Yes, we can complain that it is not enough. We can complain we are not where we should be, but we have to manage what we have to sustain today, survive tomorrow, and make progress”.
Tinubu commended the media for criticising his government, saying it challenged and provoked him to serve Nigerians better.
“Thank you for inspiring me and challenging me in critical moments of my life. If I look at various barrages of negative comments as opposed to positive aspects of the assignment, I shouldn’t be standing here. That is the truth,” the president said.
“You didn’t spare me, but you challenged me, provoked that intellectual curiosity of a leader that must perform. There is no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you, it might not be in full detail, but the headlines, the ones that hit me.
“Leadership is about taking responsibility to make decisions at the right time. Otherwise, it’s a failure. At the time, we had to confront the subsidy. Nigeria was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“But having asked for the job and getting it, I cannot look back other than make corrections as I move along, save the nation, bring it back from the brink. Today, I can stand proudly before you that we are back from that brink.”
Tinubu added that he will continue to do his job with “patriotic dedication” to improve Nigeria.
A prosecution witness, Captain Ezekiel Bala-Agaba, testified in a Lagos Federal High Court on Thursday, that he personally delivered $15 million in cash to former NIMASA DG, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
The witness, Bala-Agaba, a former Executive Director of Maritime Safety, Shipping Development and Marine Operations at NIMASA, made the disclosure while testifying before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Captain Agaba, who appeared as the 15th prosecution witness, told the court that funds meant for pipeline surveillance were withdrawn from NIMASA’s accounts, converted into dollars, and handed over to Dr Akpobolokemi.
According to him, the money was taken to a Bureau de Change, which converted it into $15 million before the cash was delivered to the NIMASA office on Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos.
He said he subsequently took the money to the office of the then Director-General.
“The money was sent to a Bureau de Change, which later brought the dollar equivalent to our office at Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos. I asked my Personal Assistant, Ekene Nwakuche, to carry the bag and follow me to the Director-General’s office,” he told the court.
The witness explained that he collected the bag from his aide before entering the office.
“When we got to the door of the Director-General’s office, I collected the bag from him and asked him to wait outside. I then personally delivered the sum of $15 million to the Director-General.”
The witness was initially a defendant in the case but later opted to testify for the prosecution.
While being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, he explained the chain of command within NIMASA and how financial approvals were processed in the agency.
According to him, the Director-General is the overall head of the agency and issues instructions to directors, who then implement policies in line with the NIMASA Act.
He told the court that he chaired the agency’s Intelligence Committee, which was responsible for certain security-related operations.
“As chairman of the committee, I oversaw its activities and reported directly to the Director-General, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi,” he said.
During the proceedings, the witness was also shown a document containing a letter from Access Bank to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detailing transactions in NIMASA’s accounts between 2013 and 2015.
When asked how much money he took to the former Director-General, Agaba replied: “$15 million.”
After listening to the testimony, Justice Faji adjourned the matter until April 22 and 23 for cross-examination of the witness.
The EFCC had in December 2015 arraigned Dr. Akpobolokemi and seven others before the court on a 30-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent conversion of funds and money laundering.
Those charged alongside the former NIMASA boss include, Warredi Enisuoh, Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick, Timi Alari, as well as Alkenzo Limited and Penniel Engineering Services Limited.
They pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants conspired to divert funds running into over N1.15 billion under the guise of providing security intelligence in Nigeria’s maritime domain.
According to the EFCC, the NIMASA Intelligence Committee allegedly received N1,153,000,000 between December 2013 and July 2015.
Investigations further revealed that several companies contracted to execute the intelligence operations were either unregistered or lacked the capacity to perform the services, while some were allegedly linked to the defendants.
The prosecution also alleged that the defendants nominated or owned many of the companies used to execute the contracts.
One of the charges stated that the defendants conspired to commit offences punishable under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012.
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