UPDATE: COURT ORDERS FINAL FORFEITURE OF FIVE LAGOS PROPERTIES LINKED TO FORMER NAPL MD
Five desirable properties connected to Major-General Umaru Mohammed, the former managing director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), are to be finally forfeited to the federal government, following an order from the Federal High Court in Lagos.
On Wednesday, after the attorney filed a motion with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), A.O. Mohammed and Justice Chukujekwu Aneke issued the final forfeiture order.
The EFCC informed the court that its investigations had shown that the assets had been fraudulently taken and the sale profits had been stolen for personal use.
Mohammed moved the motion for the properties’ ultimate confiscation, claiming that the Commission had complied with the court’s publication order.
“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,” he said.
Following hearing the EFCC’s legal representative’s arguments, the judge granted the federal government the final forfeiture of the five properties.
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, are the properties, according to the EFCC.
The judge had issued an order on March 4, 2024, for the interim forfeiture of properties that were reasonably suspected of being proceeds of unlawful activity. The order was also directed to be published in a national newspaper, giving interested parties time to provide justification for why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.