By Jimoh Sulyman, Ayeni Olayinkaand Ilugbo Adebisi
A husband and his wife have been brought before a Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin on Tuesday for being a mastermind of an alleged land scam by the men of the Nigerian Police.
According to the charge sheet, the suspects, Faniyi Abidemi, aged 42 and 26 years old Temitope Awoyemi, were charged on offenses bordering on Criminal Breach of Trust and Advance Fee Fraud contrary to Section 312 of Penal Code Law and Section 1(3) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences 2006.
In the Police Report obtained by National Pilot, the matter was reported at the Divisional Police Station, Adewole by one Aduagba Kamaldeen on the 27th of September, 2021
Kamaldeen reported that, sometimes in the year 2019, Temitope approached him that her husband, faniyi has some portions of land at Gerewu Area, Ilorin for sale upon which she collected the total sum of Seven Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira.
It was said that the money was obtained by Temitope from Kamaldeen and other members of his community at Adeta Area; thereafter, she transferred the money to her husband’s bank account, GTBank Account Number: 0035510944 Faniyi Mumeen Abidemi, a claim that was admitted to by Faniyi Abidemi.
According to the police, in the course of interrogation, Temitope admitted to collecting the said money from the complainant on the instructions of her husband, Faniyi.
Further Investigation conducted at the SCID, Ilorin, where the matter was later transferred to, reveal that Faniyi, knowing fully-well that he did not have any portion of land for sales deliberately lured his wife Temitope into his fraudulent act.
It was noted that, Faniyi who works for a Property and Estate Management Company, made his wife to advertise his fake landed properties to the unsuspecting complainants on his behalf upon which she remitted the sum of N7,200,000 into his Bank Account on his instruction.
In what seem like a counter argument between the duo of Faniyi and Temitope, the former claimed that the amount he received was only N3million while Temitope said the amount was N5million, which is quite different from the amount claimed by the complainant.
In his address to the court, Kamaldeen (complainant) stated that it was Temitope that he met with not Faniyi, whereby she promised to get him and some other people pieces of land at reduced prices, claiming that the company she is working for is organising a Bonanza.
He disclosed that, he and others which includes his own mother, paid the money on installment plan to Temitope who kept promising them that they will get their papers in due time, but after a while, she started avoiding them and their several phone calls.
Temitope later agreed that the money collected was truly N7.2m and that the entire money is with her husband, Faniyi, and that she didn’t calculate the money earlier but only thought the money was #5m due to the calculation Faniyi had earlier made.
The defense counsel, Barrister J.S Muhammed however pleaded to the court to admit his clients to bail, promising that they will source for the money in order to repay the victim.
The presiding magistrate, Ibrahim Dasuki yielded to the plea, he granted the two suspects bail on the condition that they cough out the sum of N3million before leaving the court or else they should be remanded at the correctional facility.
He therefore adjourned the matter till 6th of December for further mention.
