The Court of Appeal has affirmed the conviction and sentencing of a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian Army Properties Limited, Maj.-Gen. Umar Mohammed, for offences involving the stealing and misappropriation of company funds.
In the Certified True Copy of the judgment, the appellate court dismissed Mohammed’s appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the Special Court Martial that tried him and the validity of its verdict.
Mohammed was earlier tried and convicted by a Special Court Martial of the Nigerian Army on October 10, 2023, for offences bordering on stealing and criminal misappropriation of funds belonging to Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
Following the conviction, he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army, sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to refund $2,099,700 and ₦1.65bn to the company.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the former army officer approached the Court of Appeal on February 12, 2025, through suit number CA/ABJ/CR/383/2025, arguing that the conviction was not supported by credible evidence.
However, a three-member panel of justices, Abba Mohammed, Okon Abang and Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, dismissed the appeal.
The panel held that the evidence presented during the court martial sufficiently established the offences.
According to the judgment issued on Monday, the court ruled that the Special Court Martial was justified in rejecting Mohammed’s defence.
The justices described his testimony as inconsistent and unreliable.
They noted contradictions in his claim that Nigerian Army Properties Limited never operated berthing services, pointing out that documentary records authored by him indicated otherwise.
The court held that such inconsistencies undermined his credibility.
The appellate court subsequently upheld the conviction and sentence imposed by the Special Court Martial on all counts except those relating to forgery.
Meanwhile, in a related development, a judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Lagos, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, ordered the final forfeiture of shares valued at over ₦5bn traced to Mohammed and a businessman, Kayode Filani.
The order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which told the court that the 245,568,137 shares were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities committed during Mohammed’s tenure at NAPL.
Counsel to the EFCC, Hanatu Kofanaisa, informed the court that the Special Court Martial had earlier convicted Mohammed on 14 out of 18 counts of stealing and related offences.
She also stated that the commission fulfilled all legal requirements for final forfeiture, including the mandatory newspaper publication, without any objections being filed.
In granting the application, Justice Dipeolu held that the EFCC had established its case and ordered the shares permanently forfeited to the Federal Government in favour of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The application was brought pursuant to Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
