The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of five properties linked to a former Managing Director, Nigerian Army Properties Limited, NAPL, Major-General U.M. Mohammed.
The court had, on March 4, 2024, ordered the interim forfeiture of the properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity and also directed the publication of the order in a national newspaper for any interested person to show cause why they should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
However, Justice Chukujekwu Aneke on Wednesday ordered the final forfeiture, following a motion on notice filed and argued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, through its lawyer, A.O. Mohammed.
Dele Oyewale, Head, Media & Publicity EFCC in a statement on Wednesday said the agency’s investigation revealed that the properties were fraudulently misappropriated and the proceeds of the sale diverted for personal use.
The properties are: No.8b, Bedwell Road, Ikoyi; No.3, Force Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; No.14, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; No.6, Marina, Ikoyi, Lagos and No. 28, Point Road, Apapa, Lagos.
Moving the application for the final forfeiture of the properties on Wednesday, Mohammed told the court that the Commission had complied with the order of the court regarding the publication.
He also submitted that “it will be in the interest of justice for the court to grant the prayers being sought and also order the final forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government.”
The judge, after listening to the submissions of the EFCC’s counsel, ordered the final forfeiture of the five properties to the Federal Government in favour of NAPL.
In June, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that Nigerian Army authorities had finally issued a warrant to commit Mohammed to prison.
Mohammed’s warrant of committal to prison came a week after he was illegally put in Kuje Prison.
A top military source told SaharaReporters that Mohammed “was taken to Kuje without a proper warrant from the military tribunal that jailed him”.
“He has been kept in detention since January 2022 and was taken to Kuje Prison on May 2, 2024,” the source added.
According to the source, the military managed to “find the illegal warrant after Mohammed had spent a week in Kuje Prison”.
In October 2023, Mohammed, who was court-martialed for fraud and found guilty of stealing over $430,000, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The Special Court Martial set up by the Nigerian Army also ordered Mohammed to return the sum of $2,178,900 and N1.65 billion to the Army properties and NAPL.
The Special Court-Martial had found the military officer guilty of 14 out of 18 counts brought against him, which included stealing, forgery, conspiracy, theft, and unauthorised diversion of army property.
In May 2023, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that Maj. Gen. Mohammed was being court-martialled in Abuja for allegations bordering on fraud and stealing.
Sources however told SaharaReporters that Mohammed had opened up a can of worms as the senior military officer narrated how former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.) allowed the sale of houses by the NAPL to politicians and Very Important Personalities (VIPs) at a ridiculous 75 per cent discount.
Mohammed is a former ally of Buratai, who spent five years and five months in office. SaharaReporters learnt that he revealed during his cross-examination that Buratai had directed him to allocate the houses in question to civilians.
SaharaReporters learnt from top sources at the court-martial that Mohammed further revealed that the VIPs and politicians were relations and friends of the then-First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who were used as beneficiaries to receive the houses on her behalf as gifts from Buratai.
Sources had told SaharaReporters that Mohammed was being punished at the behest of Buratai with whom he was involved in illegalities and shady dealings, carried out on the orders of the former Army chief while he was in office.
As the officer in charge of NAPL, Mohammed controlled army properties across the country.