Major-General Umaru Mohammed
By Abubakar Abdullahi
The Federal High Court sitting in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State has ordered the final forfeiture of five properties linked to a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), Major-General Umaru Mohammed.
The presiding judge, Justice Chukujekwu Aneke, gave the order on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, following a motion on notice filed and argued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its lawyer, A.O. Mohammed.
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.
The EFCC told the court that an investigation revealed that the properties were fraudulently misappropriated and the proceeds of the sale diverted for personal use.
Justice Aneke had, on March 4, ordered the interim forfeiture of the properties suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity and also directed the publication of the order in a national newspaper for any interested person to show cause why they should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
Moving the application for the final forfeiture of the properties on Wednesday, Mohammed told the court that the EFCC had complied with the order of the court regarding the publication.
“It will be in the interest of justice for the court to grant the prayers being sought and also order the final forfeiture of the property to the federal government,” the lawyer said.
The judge, after listening to the submissions of the EFCC’s counsel, ordered the final forfeiture of the five properties to the federal government in favour of NAPL.
