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.

Shame on her!