A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, has ordered the final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares valued at over N5 billion. The shares were traced to former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), Maj-Gen. Umar Mohammed, and businessman Kayode Filani.
The forfeiture follows an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the shares were acquired using proceeds from unlawful activities during Mohammed’s tenure as head of the Army’s property company.
During proceedings, EFCC counsel Hanatu Kofanaisa informed the court that a Special Court Martial had convicted Mohammed on 14 of 18 counts involving stealing and related offences. The commission had fulfilled all requirements for an interim forfeiture order, including publication in a national daily, and stated that no opposition had been filed against the application.
After reviewing the motion, Justice Dipeolu concluded that the EFCC’s application was meritorious and ordered the shares to be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, to benefit Nigerian Army Properties Limited. He ruled that since all statutory conditions for final forfeiture were satisfied and no objections were raised, the application must succeed.
The application was brought 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 assets 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. Among the forfeited holdings are millions of shares in major companies.
The EFCC informed the court that its investigations revealed that properties belonging to Nigerian Army Properties Limited were illegally sold under Mohammed’s leadership, and the proceeds were diverted into stock acquisitions to conceal their origin. In support of the application, EFCC investigator Nwike Fortune deposed to an affidavit detailing how Mohammed abused his office.
Fortune 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 added, “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 being the Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.”
The affidavit further disclosed that Mohammed had used his company, Awhua Resources Limited, to acquire the shares through accounts operated by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited, in an attempt to conceal the illicit funds.
This ruling follows a previous EFCC victory in securing the forfeiture of five properties also linked to Mohammed, after his conviction by a military court martial.
