Court sentences army general to seven years imprisonment, orders him to refund N3.7bn

Maj. Gen. Umaru Mohammed, a former group managing director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited, was found guilty of corruption and given a seven-year prison sentence by a Nigerian Army special court martial on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mohammed was also ordered by the military court to repay $2,178,900, which, when translated to naira (at N1000 per dollar), equaled N2.1 billion. (The sum, when added to N1.6 billion, was N3.7 billion.) N1.65 billion was also given to NAPL and Army properties.

Mohammed was tried on 18 counts that included, among other things, conspiracy, theft of funds, and forgery.

Despite his denials to all charges, the court martial found him guilty on 14 counts.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the eight-member panel, presided over by Maj. Gen. James Myam, sentenced Mohammed to five years in jail on count one and required him to repay the Nigerian Army Properties Limited a total of $1,045,400.000.

He was also found guilty on count two, given a five-year prison term, and forced to pay NAPL $480,000.

The General was also found guilty on count three, given a five-year prison term, and required to pay the NAPL $85,400 back.

Counts 4, 5, 6, and 9 were also found guilty, and each carried a penalty of five years in prison and a restitution requirement of $35,300, $55, 500, $46, 500, and $430, 800, respectively.

The punishments, according to the military court, will run consecutively and are subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Lekan Ojo (SAN), the attorney for the ex-MDNAPL who had been found guilty, submitted an oral application asking the court to transfer his client to a detention facility, invoking Section 157 of the Armed Forces Act.

"The court martial sentence starts to run the day it is delivered," he declared.  I hereby request that the court transfer him to the penitentiary facility rather than the Army detention camp.

The application, however, was denied by the court.

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