Land: Court jails estate agent 3 years for theft

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday sentenced a 32-year-old estate agent, Suleiman Ishola to three years imprisonment for defrauding his client of five million naira in a land purchase deal.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs S. K. Matepo, sentenced Ishola after finding him guilty on count-three of the three-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and stealing brought against him.

She ruled that the convict should serve out his terms or pay an option of fine to the tune of five million naira.

“The accused is not guilty of count one and two; he is thereby discharged and acquitted.

“However, the accused is guilty of the count three, which is stealing and, therefore, he is sentenced to three years imprisonment or alternatively to pay a sum of five million naira,” she ruled.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Innocent Odugbo told the court that the accused committed the offences with others still at large on June 3, 2013, at Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Odugbo said the accused conspired with others and defrauded one Mrs Njoku Obiageli by forging land documents and Certificate of Occupancy on the pretext of selling her a parcel of land at Park View Estate in Ikoyi.

“The accused fraudulently collected the sum of five million naira through a single credit fund transfer from the complainant.

“The complainant alerted the police and the accused was apprehended after she found out that the land documents were fake,” he said.

The offences contravened Sections 287, 363 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.