Police declare ex-deputy governor of Lagos state wanted for fraud
According to
Punch, the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria
Police has declared a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja
Sinatu Ojikutu, wanted for allegedly defrauding a land buyer of N130m.
The SFU alleged in a statement on
Wednesday that the suspect and her son, Samson, obtained money from the
victim by false representation.
The Commissioner of Police for the
command, Tunde Ogunsakin, said, “The victim alleged that in September
2011, the suspects conspired and sold a parcel of land at Plot 24 Block 4
situated at Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos for N130m which he paid
into the first suspect’s account with the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
He further stated that after payment,
he requested title document and Alhaja Ojikutu procured an affidavit of
support to back her fraudulent claim, a police crime extract and a
publication in a newspaper all purporting to loss of the original
documents of title to the land.
The victim believed her because of her
personality as the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State.
“The bubble burst when the victim
commenced development of the land and was on the verge of completion
when the bona fide owner of the land surfaced and indeed it was
discovered that the land the suspect sold did not belong to her. She
actually sold Plot 23 Block 4 while Plot 24 Block 4 already has a
property on it.”
According to police investigation, the
land Ojikutu sold, did not belong to her, but to one Mr. Afolabi. It
was also discovered that the Plot 24 Block 4, which actually belonged to
Alhaja Ojikutu’s late husband, Samson Ojikutu (senior), was sold by him
in 1995 and the suspect was a life witness and appended her signature
to the sale of the land.
Ogunsakin said the suspect further
perpetrated the crime by alleging that the original Certificate of
Occupancy to the property was missing and swore an affidavit which
enabled her to obtain a police report and memorandum of loss. She also
put up an advert in newspapers that the original C of O was lost,
whereas the original C of O was with the Hallmark Homes, the buyer of
the property.
He said, “The suspect, who is a
67-year-old retiree from Lagos Island, allegedly connived with her son,
Samson, who is currently in the United States to commit the fraud. The
suspect and her son were parties to the sale of the land and both signed
the agreement given to the complainant and obtained the sum of N130m
from him.
“She admitted committing the crime but
confessed that it was a genuine mistake of plot identification. She
refunded the sum of N50m to the complainant and promised to refund the
balance as soon as she disposed of her two properties she put up for
sale. She also confessed that she had invested the victim’s money in
her business.
“She equally made an undertaking and
payment plan which was drawn from September, 2012 and was to terminate
by November 2012, but she defaulted.”
Ogunsakin stated that the suspect was
not willing to abide by the terms of payment and had jumped bail. He
added that all attempts to contact her had proved abortive.
“The SFU declares Alhaja Ojikutu wanted.
Anybody with useful information regarding her whereabouts should report
to the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, 13 Milverton Road,
Ikoyi,” he said.
Source: Punch
