Property agent in police net over fraud
It was a clear case of survival of the fittest at No 2 Ojumola
street, Ajegunle, Lagos, when 33 prospective tenants scrambled to take
possession of five mini flats that they all paid for. Trouble started
when some of the tenants who had since paid for the mini flats when they
were under construction realised that they were not the only ones on
the waiting list.
The suspect, Abdulateef Ibrahim, who developed the property, was
alleged to have collected rents totalling N6 million from 33 prospective
tenants instead of five and thereafter disappeared.
The fastest among the tenants quickly moved in their things while
other bought several padlocks and locked any room within reach.
The owner of the house, Alhaja Hafisat Ojumola, who claimed that she
was not aware of the transaction, alerted the police when she discovered
that the tenants battling to take possession of the apartments must
have been defrauded by her contractor, Ibrahim. He was later traced to
Abeokuta, Ogun State and by operatives of Special Anti- Robbery Squad,
Lagos police command, Ikeja.
When
Saturday Sun visited the controversial compound, all
the flats were occupied. A lady, who thought that one of our
correspondents could be another victim, warned that all rooms were
occupied. “We are the lucky ones, go and ask the landlord for your
money. You better hurry up because I learnt the case will soon be
charged to court,” the lady said.
On how she managed to secure the rooms, she said that it took the
intervention of his brother who is a soldier to secure a room. “It was
not a joke but I thank God that we were victorious. In fact, no one will
move me out of here, even when my rent expires”, she added.
Narrating their ordeal in the hands of Ibrahim, Ali Mudashiru, one of the sons of the owner of the house told
Saturday Sun that
it took the intervention of the police to stop the angry mob of victims
from tearing the house down. “The house was getting bad and all the
tenants were asked to pack out. We do not have money to hire the
services of developers, so we called our in-law, Ibrahim to assist
since he is a builder. That was in June 2014. We knew that he builds
houses for people. We agreed and gave him N450,000 to renovate the
house.
“Sincerely, he gave account of every kobo that was spent by him. That
was why, when he came back that we should bring another N500,000 I
obliged him. He also spent that one but this time round did not give
full account. My mother, Alhaja Hafisat Ojumola asked him to stop, when
he came back again requesting for money. No one knew that he had gone
ahead to put the house for rent.
“Two weeks after he was asked to stop, he came back and said that he
had got money to continue the project. He said that the N500,000 extra
that he borrowed will be enough to complete the house. We wanted the
house to be put up for rent and was happy when he said that he had got
money and would soon finish the project.
“We were shocked when tenants started coming to the house claiming
that Ibrahim collected money from them. It got worse when they started
fighting over who owns what. My mother could not bear the shame because
it will appear that we conspired with Ibrahim. We tried to reach him
but he switched off his phone. We knew that if nothing is done, these
desperate tenants will tear down the house. We reported the matter to
the Commissioner of Police and they tracked him down. As we speak, there
are people living in the house forcefully”, he said.
On why they did not stop Ibrahim completely when tenants were coming
around while the project was on, Mudashiru said: “We had hoped to rent
it out one day, so we did not see anything wrong in allowing
prospective tenants to come and have a look. How can anyone do business
with a developer without asking for the true owner of the house? It is
unfortunate and we thank God that he was caught after collecting about
N6million from people.”
Pleading for mercy, the suspect, 42-year-old Ibrahim said he would
refund the money if given three months grace. “I am willing to pay back
the money if I am given at least three months. Please, do not expose me
to the world”, he pleaded with one of our correspondents.
On how he intends to raise the money, Ibrahim claimed that he has
other projects, which he intends to put up for rent. “I have other
projects and people have started indicating interest before the police
came and arrested me. It was not my fault that the property took a lot
of money. I knew that the number of flats will not be enough that was
why I started another project”, he stated.
According to Ibrahim, his mother-in-law saw him as a capable hand,
hence he was hired to do the job. He continued: “The money they brought
was not enough, so I had to borrow money. The area is swampy and the
cost of renovating the house was not easy. I spoke to some agents that
came to check the house. Normally, if a house is cheap, a lot of persons
will indicate interest. In that area, apartments go for as much as
N150,000 for two rooms. To woo people, I told the agents to tell their
clients that the house will go for N100,000. There was a mad rush and I
had no choice but to collect as much as I could. It was the devil that
took over and before I knew what was happening, I had collected about
N6million from people. To tell you that it was the devil, I do not have a
dime in my account. I cannot point at anything that I used the
remaining money to do. If you go to my compound at No 4 Bello street, in
Orile Iganmu, you will discover that I live in a room. I did not even
use the money for my life. I am an Islamic cleric and I have prayed for a
lot of people and granted them healing. Because I do not want to be
dependent on the money from the mosque, I decided to learn a handiwork. I
am terribly sorry. Please, forgive me.”
Confirming Ibrahim’s arrest as at press time, the state police
spokesman, DSP Kenneth Nwosu said the suspect will soon be charged to
court. He called on Nigerians to go an extra mile to confirm the
authencity of any transaction before payment is made.
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