Olusanya Ajala
A
45-year-old man, Olusanya Ajala, has been arrested for allegedly
selling a house bequeathed to him and his three siblings to two
different buyers.
Ajala was said to have sold the property
to a businesswoman, Anita Ojuola, and one other buyer, whose name had
yet to be ascertained.
It was learnt that Ajala sold the house to Ojuola without the consent of his sisters.
Our correspondent learnt that the
building, which comprises eight rooms and three boys’ quarters, is
located on Ajala Close in the Ijaiye area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Ojuola
had shown interest in the house, and was introduced to the suspect by an
estate agent. The two parties were said to have negotiated and
subsequently agreed on N3.5m.
Anita
reportedly paid N1m into a bank account provided by the suspect on
March 9 with a promise to pay the balance towards the end of April. It
was gathered that Ajala issued a forged power of attorney to the woman
to signify her ownership of the property.
Trouble was said to have started when
the suspect shelved appointments to meet Ojuola and refused to pick her
calls. It was learnt that Ojuola, who demanded to see his siblings
before she would pay the N2.5m balance, eventually met the suspect a
month after.
Our correspondent was told that Ojuola discovered that the house had been sold to another person, who had started renovating it.
She said, “Before I made payment, my
lawyer, the agent and I met with him and requested proof of ownership.
The lawyer interviewed him and asked him to produce all necessary
documents. He produced a document indicating that he has the power of
attorney to sell the house and the lawyer told me to go ahead with the
payment.
“On March 9, I made a transfer of N1m to
his bank account. I asked Mr. Olusanya (Ajala) on three occasions to
take us to the house and introduced me to the tenants that the house had
been bought, but he refused. The agent and I finally met with him on
April 14. We insisted that he take us to the house. On getting there, we
learnt that he had sold the house to someone else since March 20.”
Upon the discovery, the matter was reported at the Ijaiye-Ojokoro Police Station, leading to Ajala’s arrest.
One of Ajala’s sisters, Mrs. Aduni Ojelabi, said the family had no hand in the sale of the property to Ojuola.
She said, “The house needed renovation
and I called other family members to contribute money. When they
refused, we decided to sell it on March 20 for N6.8m. Our agent
collected N1.8m while the lawyer got N60,000. Four of us shared the
remaining amount. I was surprised to hear that he (Ajala) had sold it to
someone else.”
A police prosecutor, ASP Lugard Ahonle,
brought the suspect – who had reportedly confessed to have obtained the
forged power of attorney from an expert – before an Ojokoro Magistrate’s
Court on nine counts bordering on fraud and forgery.
The charges read in part, “That you,
Olusanya Ajala, and one other at large, on March 9, 2015, at about 2pm,
at the Ajala Area of Ijaiye-Ojokoro, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial
District, did conspire to commit felony to wit: obtaining money under
false pretences.
“That you, and one other at large, on
the same date, time and place, with intent to defraud one Anita Ojuola,
by obtaining from her through mobile money transfer, the sum of N1m
under the false pretences of selling your father’s house on Ajala Close.
“That you and one other at large did forge a power of attorney with intent to commit felony.”
The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges.
During a hearing on Monday, the presiding magistrate, Mrs. T. Akani, told the defendant to refund the money or get jailed.
The case was adjourned till July 27, 2015, for report of settlement.
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