Former Army General Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison and Ordered to Repay N3.7 Billion for Corruption.
Abuja, Nigeria – A Nigerian Army special court martial in Abuja has convicted and sentenced former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited, Maj. Gen. Umaru Mohammed, to seven years’ imprisonment for corruption-related charges. The military court found him guilty of multiple counts, including forgery, misappropriation of funds, and conspiracy.
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Maj. Gen. Umaru Mohammed, who initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, was found guilty on 14 counts during the trial. Delivering the judgment, an eight-man panel, led by Maj. Gen. James Myam, imposed a five-year prison sentence on each of the 14 counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The court’s verdict also included orders for Maj. Gen. Mohammed to make substantial financial restitutions. In particular, he was instructed to return a total sum of $2,178,900, which, when converted to the local currency (at N1000 per dollar), amounted to N2.1 billion. When added to N1.6 billion, the total amount he was ordered to repay to the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL) amounted to N3.7 billion.
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Count one of the verdict entailed a five-year prison sentence and an order for Mohammed to return $1,045,400 to NAPL. Count two resulted in a similar sentence and an order for $480,000 to be repaid to NAPL. In count three, Maj. Gen. Mohammed was again found guilty, resulting in a five-year prison sentence and an order to refund $85,400 to NAPL.
Counts four, five, six, and nine also led to five-year prison sentences for each count, with orders to refund $35,300, $55,500, $46,500, and $430,800, respectively.
Notably, the military court stipulated that these sentences would run concurrently and would be subject to confirmation by the appropriate authorities.
During the proceedings, an oral application was made by the counsel for the convicted former GMD of NAPL, Lekan Ojo (SAN), invoking Section 157 of the Armed Forces Act. Ojo requested the court to move his client to a custodial center, stating, “The sentence of the court martial begins to run the day it is pronounced. I hereby pray the court to move him to the correctional center and not the Army detention facility.”
However, the court decided to reject this application, thereby ordering that Maj. Gen. Umaru Mohammed would serve his sentence within the military detention facility.
The conviction and sentencing of a high-ranking military officer send a strong message regarding the Nigerian military’s commitment to addressing corruption and maintaining discipline within its ranks. This decision underscores the government’s efforts to combat corruption at all levels of society, and it serves as a reminder that no one is above the law in the fight against corruption in Nigeria
