Suyi Ayodele, Author at Tribune Online

A Nigerian living in Australia, Benedict Ehiamentalor, has accused a Benin palace functionary, Rowland Ogbebor, of swindling him of the sum of N3.5 million, being an amount of money he (Ehiamentalor) paid for a parcel of land which was never allotted to him. Ehiamentalor, in his petition to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, Zone 5, Benin, through his lawyer, Samuel Abasilim, identified two other persons, Otasowie Glory and Osaretin Otasowie, who he said is a pastor, as those who introduced him to Ogbebor. But Ogbebor, in his reaction, said that there was no case of fraud over the parcel of land sold to Ehiamentalor, as the land remains intact and had even added more monetary value than when it was sold. In his petition, Ehiamentalor claimed that he was to be given a 100ft by 200ft land along the Expressway by Eyaen to compensate for a friend he described as an estranged lover, who he said was plotting to seize the land where the petitioner was already erecting a building. He added that weeks after the transaction was concluded, Ogbebor and the other people mentioned in the petition became evasive and were no longer picking his calls. “The trio has capitalised on the fact that our client was in Nigeria for a brief period which was why they manipulated the whole scenario for our client to travel back, hoping that it would be the end of the criminal deceit to obtain all the large sums of money from him,” the petition alleged. But reacting to the development, Ogbebor said the allegations were not true, adding that the land is still there and has increased value. He added that he had been invited by the police from AIG, Zone 5, where he gave them his own side of the story. “He (Ehiamentalor) went to the place and even said he liked it and took some trips of sand to the place and also cleared the place only for him to call me that the person he wanted to buy the land for doesn’t like the place and that he would want a refund and I asked was that part of our agreement? I don’t know the girl and you are the one buying and I am the one selling so the issue of the person not liking the place is not my business. I said you can keep the land and later you can sell it and get your money back,” Ogbebor explained. YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE Lagos Is Second Least Liveable City In The World For 2021 Lagos is the second least liveable city in the world for the year 2021. This is according to the most recent annual ranking put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)... FACT CHECK: Did UNICEF Say Blocking Children’s Access To Pornography Constitutes Human Rights’ Infringement? CLAIM 1: A Twitter user claims UNICEF said any efforts to block children from accessing pornography might infringe their human rights. VERDICT: MISLEADING!