The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares worth over N5 billion, traced to Major-General Umar Mohammed, a former director in the Nigerian Army and his friend, Kayode Oladipupo Filani.
Mohammed served as a former group managing director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL).
The order came after an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the shares were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities during Mohammed’s tenure as head of the Army’s property company.
EFCC counsel, Hanatu Kofanaisa, told the court that a Special Court Martial had already convicted Mohammed on 14 out of 18 counts of stealing and related offences. She argued that the Commission had fulfilled all requirements for the interim forfeiture order, including its publication in a national daily, and stressed that no objection had been filed against the application.
In her ruling, Justice Dipeolu held that the EFCC’s application was meritorious and ordered the shares permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, for the benefit of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The judge ruled: since the statutory conditions for final forfeiture had been met and no opposition was raised, the application must succeed.
The application was filed under Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
The forfeited shares were held in accounts operated by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited, in the name of Awhua Resources Limited, a company linked to Mohammed.
The stock portfolio includes millions of shares in major companies such as Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Conoil Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Eterna Plc, Flour Mills Plc, Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Oando Plc, University Press Plc, and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc. It also covers significant holdings in Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), PZ Industries, Transcorp, Okomu Oil Palm, May & Baker, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Union Bank of Nigeria, and Unilever Nigeria Plc.
According to EFCC investigations, properties belonging to the Nigerian Army were illegally sold under Mohammed’s leadership, with the proceeds diverted into stock acquisitions to disguise the source of the funds.
In support of the application, EFCC investigator Nwike Fortune deposed to an affidavit that revealed how Mohammed abused his office. He stated: “The Commission received a petition from Nigerian Army Properties Limited against FCCNAPL Properties Limited, Alhaji Muhammadu Dahiru Wada, Maj. Gen. U.M. Mohammed, Yusuf Abubakar Abdullahi and Kayode Oladipupo Filani. The petition chronicled how properties belonging to Nigerian Army Properties Limited were fraudulently sold without recourse to the Board of the company by Maj. Gen. Mohammed, who was the Managing Director at the time.”
He further explained that the proceeds from those sales were used to acquire the forfeited shares: “Preliminary investigations revealed that proceeds of the sales of the properties were used in the acquisition of shares in different companies now sought to be finally forfeited. The stocks contained in the attached schedules were acquired with part of funds fraudulently obtained by Maj. Gen. Mohammed’s unlawful activities whilst Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.”
The affidavit also disclosed that Mohammed, in an attempt to conceal the illicit funds, used his company, Awhua Resources Limited, to acquire the shares through accounts managed by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited.
The ruling comes after the EFCC had earlier secured the forfeiture of five properties linked to Mohammed, following his conviction by a military court martial.