(High Court. Photo by Daily Nigerian)
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned until October 26 the continuation of hearing on charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against four alleged Abuja land grabbers.
Trial Justice Joyce Abdulmalik fixed the new date after admitting several pieces of documentary evidence tendered by the anti-graft agency to establish the defendants’ alleged involvement in a ₦500 million Abuja land fraud.
Those standing trial before the court include a real estate developer, Mrs Godwin-Isaac Rebecca Omokamo; her husband, Isaac Yusuf Ishaku; Idakwogi Richard John; and two companies, Homadil Realty Limited and Rychardo Homes Limited.
The EFCC had arraigned the defendants on June 18, 2025, on two separate charges, one containing five counts and the other 17 counts.
The commission alleged that between 2023 and 2024, the defendants collected over ₦500 million from multiple victims and laundered the funds through the accounts of various companies.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendants used forged documents, including a fake power of attorney, to lay claim to Plot 4022, Guzape District, Abuja.
It further alleged that the first defendant used forged documents to obtain a building permit from the FCT Department of Development Control and subsequently sold the land to a buyer for ₦70 million.
The EFCC also alleged that the defendants obtained money under false pretences by fraudulently misrepresenting ownership and title over Plots 1861, 1862 and 1863, Cadastral Zone B07, Katampe District, Abuja, thereby inducing unsuspecting individuals to part with their money to acquire the properties, despite knowing the representations to be false.
The prosecution told the court that the defendants conspired to falsify and fraudulently acquire Plot 4022, Guzape District, Abuja, a property belonging to Mrs Colleen Mero Yesufu, through false representation and forged documents.
The EFCC stated that these actions contravened Section 8(a) and are punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court had earlier ordered the prosecution to arrest and produce the first defendant, Omokamo, for Thursday’s proceedings, following her failure to appear at the last adjourned date.
At the resumed sitting, the anti-graft agency produced her as directed, though Justice Abdulmalik declined an application to remand her in EFCC custody pending the next adjourned date.
Meanwhile, two witnesses who testified in the case told the court that the defendants issued fraudulent title documents to unsuspecting members of the public to whom they sold the disputed lands, adding that the defendants failed to provide any documents establishing their ownership of the properties during investigations.
Those who testified were Ahmed Gbigbadua of the Extractive Force Unit of the EFCC, and Abdulhamid Wundil of the Department of Land Administration in the FCT. Gbigbadua told the court that the commission became involved in the matter after human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, forwarded a petition on behalf of Colleen Yesufu concerning three properties situated at Plots 1861, 1862 and 1863 in Katampe District, Abuja.
The court had earlier admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of ₦10 million each, with two sureties in like sum, while also confiscating their travel documents.
