The court of appeal in Abuja on Monday, March 9th, upheld the conviction of former army general, Umar Mohammed, for stealing ₦1.65 billion and $2 million from Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL).
A three-member panel of justices, Abba Mohammed, Okon Abang, and Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, dismissed Mohammed’s appeal, ruling that the evidence presented during the court martial clearly and sufficiently established the offences for which he was convicted.
Mohammed, the former group managing director of NAPL, had approached the appellate court on February 12, 2025, in suit number CA/ABJ/CR/383/2025, arguing that his conviction was not supported by sufficient and credible evidence and challenging the jurisdiction of the special court martial that tried him.
The appellate court in its certified judgement noted damaging contradictions in Mohammed’s testimony, particularly his claim that NAPL never operated berthing services, a position directly undermined by documentary records that he himself had authored.
The justices ruled that the inconsistencies fatally undermined his credibility and justified the court martial’s decision to reject his defence as unreliable.
The appellate court consequently affirmed the conviction and sentences imposed by the special court martial on all counts, with the exception of those relating to forgery.
Mohammed was tried and convicted by a special court martial on October 10, 2023, on offences bordering on stealing and criminal misappropriation of funds belonging to NAPL.
Following the conviction, he was dismissed from the Nigerian army, sentenced to seven years imprisonment, and ordered to refund $2 million and ₦1.65 billion to the company.
In August 2025, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the federal high court in Lagos ordered the permanent forfeiture of shares worth over ₦5 billion traced to Mohammed and a businessman, Kayode Filani, to the federal government in favour of NAPL.
The forfeiture followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which argued that the shares were acquired with proceeds from unlawful activities during Mohammed’s tenure at the army property firm.
EFCC counsel, Hanatu Kofanaisa, told the court that the 245,568,137 shares were purchased with proceeds of unlawful activities carried out during Mohammed’s tenure as head of the army’s property company, and that all legal requirements for final forfeiture had been met without any objection being filed.
Justice Dipeolu, satisfied that the EFCC had proved its case, ordered the shares permanently forfeited to the federal government under section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 constitution and section 17 of the advance fee fraud and other fraud related offences act, 2006.
Comments