by Bamidele Aremu
Four individuals, Ojo Ibrahim, Shuaibu Eleke, Abdulrauf Sodiq, and Daudu Teslim, were arraigned at an Upper Area Court in Ilorin on charges of land grabbing and impersonating a lawyer. The suspects allegedly prepared fraudulent land agreements under the name of Barrister Imam Fulani to legitimize illegal land transactions.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the case began with a petition by Olayinka Jimoh, Secretary of the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to the police on April 17, 2025. The petition highlighted allegations that the suspects forged land agreements under Imam Fulani’s name without his knowledge or consent.
“On 16/04/2025 at about 1300hrs, One Barrister Olayinka Dauda Jimoh ‘m’ of NBA house, brought a letter of Petition to ‘A’ Division Police Station llorin, against you ,Ojo lbrahim ‘m’ of No 20 Budo-Oke, Bala road Eyenkorin, you Alhaji Shuaibu Eleke ‘m’ of No 75, Okelele, Ilorin, you Abdulrauf Sodiq ‘m’ and You Daudu Teslim “m” of Bala road Eyenkorin , that on 15/4/2025 at about 1400hrs, you Ojo lbrahim was found in possession of some already prepared land document purported to be prepared by Barrister Imam Fulani. That when Imam Fulani was contacted he denied preparing such agreement and he doesn’t know the person who is in possession of the agreement.
“During the course of Police investigation it revealed that all of you criminally conspired and fraudulently connived to prepare the document impersonating a lawyer. Meanwhile, it is the right of lawyer to prepare a land instrument as stated in section 4 of the land instrument (preparation) Law of Kwara State.
“At (A’ Division Police Station Ilorin, when you were question, you could not give a satisfactory answer to the charge,” the FIR stated.
When questioned by the police, Imam Fulani denied preparing the agreements and claimed not to know the individuals in possession of the documents. The investigation revealed that the suspects allegedly conspired to prepare the documents impersonating a lawyer.
Justice Sunday Adeniyi in his ruling, granted bail to two of the suspects but ordered Abdulrauf Sodiq and Shuaibu Eleke to be remanded at the Correctional Facility in Oke Kura, Ilorin. The case was then adjourned to May 5, 2025, for further mention.
