By: Sunday Ameh
The Court of Appeal of Nigeria has affirmed the conviction of Umar Mohammed, former group managing director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), over the theft and misappropriation of company funds.
Mohammed had earlier been convicted by a special court martial on October 10, 2023, for offences bordering on stealing and criminal misappropriation of funds belonging to NAPL.
The court martial found him guilty on 14 of the 18 charges filed against him and subsequently sentenced him to seven years imprisonment. He was also dismissed from the Nigerian Army and ordered to refund $2,099,700 and N1.65 billion to the company.
Following the judgment, the former army officer approached the appellate court in February 2025, arguing that his conviction was not supported by sufficient and credible evidence.
However, the appeal court held that the ruling of the special court martial rejecting the officer’s defence was correct, describing the defence as inconsistent and unreliable.
The court noted that contradictions in Mohammed’s testimony—particularly his claim that NAPL never operated berthing services—conflicted with official records he had previously authored.
According to the appellate court, these inconsistencies weakened the credibility of his defence and justified the earlier verdict.
Consequently, the court affirmed the conviction and the sentence imposed by the court martial, including the order directing the former officer to refund the stolen funds.
In a related development, in August 2025, the Federal High Court in Lagos granted a final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares valued at over N5 billion linked to Mohammed and businessman Kayode Filani.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had told the court that the shares were acquired with proceeds of crime.
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