General to cough out N5 billion he collected from illegal sales of army property

26.8.2025
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the forfeiture of shares worth over N5b linked to Major General Umar Mohammed rtd.
Maj Gen Mohammed a former head of the Nigerian Army Properties Limited was convicted of corruptly enriching himself with sales or army property and using the proceeds to acquire shares through accounts controlled by his company, Awhua Resources Limited.
Presiding judge Justice Dehinde Dipeolu ruled that the 245 million shares traced to Major General Mohammed must be surrendered to the state.
The order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According the EFCC Maj Gen Mohammed was convicted by a special court martial on 14 of 18 counts of stealing and other related offences. Five properties linked to him had also previously been confiscated. Maj. Gen. Umaru Mohammed was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the military tribunal in October 2023.
Among the companies whose shares were forfeited are some of Nigeria’s biggest firms, including Cadbury, Conoil, Dangote Sugar, Flour Mills, Oando, Transcorp, Union Bank, Ecobank, and Unilever. Holdings were also traced to Vitafoam, May & Baker, Okomu Oil, NAHCO, and PZ Industries.
In court filings, EFCC investigator Nwike Fortune said the transactions were deliberately concealed through accounts managed by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited. He argued that the funds were proceeds of “fraudulent sales” carried out under Mohammed’s leadership of the army’s property company.
Justice Dipeolu held that the statutory requirements for a final forfeiture had been met, noting that the EFCC had published the interim order in a national newspaper and that no objections had been filed.
The court therefore granted the request, ruling that the shares be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government for the benefit of the Nigerian Army Properties Limited.