A Nigerian Army Special Court-martial sitting in Abuja has convicted the former Group Managing Director, Nigerian Army Properties Limited, Major General Umaru Mohammed, over allegations of fraud, to the tune of over 1.4 million dollars.
The eight-man panel led by Major General James Myam, while finding General Mohammed guilty in some counts in an 18-count charge bordering on forgery, misappropriation of funds, and unauthorised diversion of Army property, amongst others, fixed October 10 for sentencing the defendant.
When the hearing commenced, the General Myam-led panel noted that count one was brought under Section 383(1) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. 38 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and punishable under Section 390(7).
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The panel added that the charge against the defendant was brought under Section 114 of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A20, 2004.
The eight-man panel also noted that Mohammed was accused of stealing 1,476.200 million dollars between May 7, 2019 and June 24, 2021, while serving as Director General of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The court held that in some of the counts, the defendant was accused of giving instructions to one Major Usman and one Niyi, who is at large, to collect money from ship owners in dollars.
Although General Mohammed was found not guilty in count 7, which borders on a criminal conspiracy to forge a document with one Yusuf Abdullahi, the court in count 12 held that the general was found guilty of selling army property while no longer serving at Army Properties Ltd for N200 million.
The court also found him guilty in count 13 for withdrawing the sum of N74 million out of N75 million paid for a property belonging to the Nigerian Army at Ikoyi, Lagos, from the company’s account on August 22, 2019.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
