Army Major General Accused Of Forgery, Stealing Of $1.476 Million

A Special Court Martial established by the Nigerian Army has declared former Group Managing Director and Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Army Properties Limited, Major General Umar Mohammed, guilty of theft.

Naija News understands that Mohammed was found guilty of 14 out of 18 charges against him by the court, which include theft and other violations that are contrary to service laws.

The charges brought against the General pertain to stealing, forgery, conspiracy, theft, and unauthorised diversion of Army property, among others.

One of the charges on which General Mohammed was found guilty alleges that he received $1.045,400 from shipping companies for the use of the Nigerian Army Jetty located at no 6 Marina, Victoria Island, Lagos. He was also found guilty of stealing $430.800 that was paid into the Nigerian Army Domiciliary account at Unity Bank, Abuja, for the use of the Nigerian Army Jetty, Marina, Lagos. The court martial also found him guilty of withdrawing and confiscating N74 million out of N75 million paid for a property belonging to the Nigerian Army at Ikoyi, Lagos.

However, the General was found not guilty of allegations that he sold Army property worth N200million in Lagos, as well as stealing N750million out of the N2.5billion secured from banks and contributions from subscribers for an Army housing estate in Asokoro, Abuja. He was also not found guilty of charges of forging a Deed of Agreement document in order to confiscate another Army property in Lagos.

The Special Court Martial, presided over by Major General Kames Myam and comprising seven other Major Generals as members and a Brigadier General as Judge Advocate, is anticipated to deliver its verdicts for the accused by the upcoming Tuesday.

During the court-martial proceedings, Major General UM Mohammed was escorted into the courtroom in a wheelchair. However, the President of the court, Maj-Gen Myan, affirmed that all necessary medical evaluations were conducted on the accused, and they confirmed his fitness to stand trial.

Colonel BA Oguntayo (Rtd) served as the lead counsel for the prosecution, while Olalekan Ojo, SAN, acted as the lead counsel for the defence.