Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares worth over N5 billion traced to Umar Mohammed, former group managing director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), and businessman Kayode Filani.
The order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which told the court 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, noted that a special court martial had already convicted Mohammed on 14 of 18 counts of stealing and related offences.
Justice Dipeolu ruled that the application was meritorious, having satisfied all statutory requirements, and directed that the shares be permanently forfeited to the federal government for the benefit of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The forfeited holdings include millions of shares in Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Conoil Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Flour Mills Plc, Oando Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Transcorp, NAHCO, Ecobank, Union Bank, Unilever Nigeria, and several others.
Investigations showed that Mohammed diverted proceeds from the illegal sale of Army properties into stock acquisitions through his company, Awhua Resources Limited, using accounts operated 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 the former Army GMD.
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.