The Federal High Court in Abuja, has convicted and sentenced a staff member of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, Kinsley Eselebor, to 25 years imprisonment for using forged land documents to defraud a land buyer.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice A.O. Musa found Eselebor guilty on all five counts charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The court sentenced the convict to seven years’ imprisonment each on counts one, two and three, and two years each on counts four and five, with all sentences to run concurrently and without an option of fine.
Eselebor, an employee of Department of Urban and Regional Planning, in the FCDA was said to have defrauded Moses Osinachi after using fake documents to sell two plots of land at Kubwa District Central Annex, Abuja.
According to the EFCC, the properties, identified as Plots 383 and 424, were presented to the petitioner as genuine, despite Eselebor’s lack of title to sell them.
The charge was initially filed in March 2021 with three counts of obtaining money under false pretences. It was later amended to five counts, with counts one to three relating to obtaining money under false pretences and counts four and five concerning the use of forged documents as genuine to convince the petitioner of the authenticity of the land.
According to the evidence presented before the court, the petitioner and Eselebor were neighbours and worshipped in the Church. Their relationship, coupled with Eselebor’s position as an FCDA staff member, reportedly strengthened Osinachi’s confidence in the transaction.
The court heard that Eselebor used two conveyance documents bearing the names Yusuf Lawan and Adegoke Asiwaju to convince the petitioner that the properties were genuine.
Osinachi, however, sought further confirmation of the authenticity of the plots, and Eselebor allegedly assured him that the documents were genuine, relying on his position within the FCDA. Based on these assurances, the petitioner transferred money from his company’s account, Moscow International Services Limited, to Eselebor for the purchase of the two plots.
The transaction later ran into difficulty when Osinachi attempted to take possession of the properties and discovered that Eselebor had no valid title to transfer to him. When confronted, Eselebor reportedly admitted that he knew the properties had rival claimants and promised to find alternative plots for the petitioner. The promise was not fulfilled.
Osinachi subsequently demanded a refund of his money, but the matter remained unresolved as the explanations given by Eselebor continued to change. Dissatisfied with the development, he petitioned the EFCC, which investigated the allegations and subsequently arraigned Eselebor.
Reacting to the judgment, the EFCC’s Director of Criminal Litigation and Prosecution counsel, Joshua Saidi, described the conviction as a deterrent to individuals involved in land racketeering and the use of fake documents to defraud unsuspecting property buyers.
Saidi expressed concern that the convict’s position as an FCDA employee had allegedly been used to inspire confidence in the fraudulent transaction.
“This judgment has served as a deterrent to all these land racketeering, you know, these fraudsters, parading fake documents, defrauding unsuspecting victims. You understand? In this case, the defendant is a staff of FCDA. He paraded fake documents. And the court was also not happy with that attitude. Where is the trust? Yes, where is the trust? That means you are not safe, I’m not safe. You go to land, you want a genuine document, they give you all these fake papers, and at the end of the day, they scam you, they defraud you,” he said.
He questioned the implications of such conduct for public confidence, particularly when individuals employed by government institutions are accused of using their positions to facilitate fraudulent property transactions.
“So, it’s very nice, to me, it’s a judgment that will act as deterrence because there is no gain in fraud. And this man is a staff of FCDA. You can only imagine how many people he would have scammed, if not because of this case. He would have gone scot-free”, he said.
