The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of shares worth more than N5bn traced to the former head of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), Maj. Gen. Umar Mohammed, and a businessman, Kayode Filani.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, ruling on Tuesday, upheld an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the assets were acquired through unlawful sales of military properties during Mohammed’s tenure.
The court found that the anti-graft agency had presented compelling evidence and noted that no challenge was filed against the forfeiture order. “Having reviewed the application before me, together with the affidavit evidence and the absence of any objection, I am satisfied that the applicant has fulfilled the statutory requirements for a final forfeiture order,” Justice Dipeolu said.
The ruling makes the shares, spread across some of Nigeria’s leading listed companies, property of the federal government for the benefit of NAPL. Holdings affected include those in Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Conoil, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Flour Mills, Oando, Union Bank, Transcorp, Unilever Nigeria and others, purchased through intermediaries in what investigators described as a bid to conceal their origins.
During the proceedings, EFCC counsel Hanatu Kofanaisa reminded the court that Mohammed had already been convicted by a special court martial on 14 counts of stealing and related offences. She added that the interim forfeiture order had been advertised in the press, with no objections filed.
Investigators said Mohammed used a front company, Awhua Resources Limited, and stockbrokers Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited to channel funds from the unauthorised disposal of NAPL properties into stock market investments.
In an affidavit, EFCC operative Nwike Fortune alleged that Mohammed had “fraudulently obtained” funds through sales of military assets, which were then laundered into shares across multiple sectors, from aviation to manufacturing and agriculture.
The judgment follows an earlier ruling that saw five properties linked to Mohammed forfeited after his military court-martial conviction.
