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Victims of N52 million rent fraud petition Inspector General of Police, ICPC, EFCC, others



IT all began as a mutual transaction between consenting adults based on trust; a self-acclaimed property developer on one hand and unsuspecting people looking for a place to lay their heads in a crowded city like Lagos, on the other.

 But alas, it was not to be, as once again, another black-hearted scoundrel has struck and over 100 people are at present, looking back and asking themselves why they trusted the smooth talking ‘property developer’ too well to part with their hard-earned money.

 Thus yet again, another group of Lagosians have been conned and their search for a decent accommodation has ended in tears.

 But if this hapless group thought the Police in Itire Division would come to their aid, they have so far been mistaken, and rather than watch their money disappear into the con artist’s pockets as a result of the unwillingness of the police to do their duty, the dupes decided to write a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar with copies sent to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Lagos office and the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, also in Lagos.

 Signed by Uche Arinze, Innocent Odenga and Victor Odiete on behalf of the other petitioners, the petition alleged that Mr. Samuel Adeniyi Ogundana aka Prince and his brother Adetayo Olatunbosin under the pretence of giving them rented accommodation on No. 8, Igbesa Street, off Ashimowu Bakare Street, Itire, Lagos, defrauded them of their money.

 The petition stated: “We, the undersigned, all citizens of Nigeria wish to draw your attention to a lingering case of alleged fraud being perpetrated against us, after exploring all legitimate means by way of involving your men and officers of the police in Itire, Lagos Division, which we are afraid may have been compromised and are handling this case with levity. So, it is out of frustration and disappointment with the way and manner with which the Divisional Police Officer of Itire Division of the Nigeria Police is handling this issue that we decided to cry out for justice by writing officially to you.”

 Their ordeal at the hands of Ogundana and Olatunbosun, according to the petition, began in July last year. “Our ordeal began sometime in July 2013 when we had a deal with one Mr. Samuel Adeniyi Ogundana aka Prince who alongside another person we all simply know as Mr. Adetayo Olatunbosun, who claimed to be developers contracted by Alhaji K. A. Salami, the owner of a property on No. 8, Igbesa Street, off Ashimowu Bakare Street, less than five minutes walk from the Itire Police Division. We, the undersigned saw the developed property and at different times paid monies into the account provided by Mr. Adeniyi”.

 The petition continued: “After paying different sums of money into the account depending on the kind of apartment you seek (as there are flats and mini flats in the developed property), we called Mr. Adeniyi in any of his mobile numbers and he asked us to bring the deposit slips, which he exchanged for a receipt. Attached are some of the receipts. The total sum of money paid to Mr. Adeniyi by all of us that signed this petition is N52, 000, 000 (Fifty-two million naira only).”

 One of the victims of the alleged fraud, Uche Arinze made available copies of receipt allegedly issued by Ogundana to all the victims, which bear the company name, Alpha Enterprise (in exchange for the bank deposit slip), but in a funny coincidence, its operational address is the same as the property that was being advertised for rent. Even at that, it did not raise any red flag in the eyes of the accommodation seekers, not until they made move to pack into the apartments they thought they had paid for.

 “Eyebrows began to be raised when all of us that paid for the apartment could not access it as suddenly the landlord, Alhaji A. K. Salami surfaced and claimed he was not aware of the transaction between us and the said developers/agents Adeniyi and Olatunbosun. Since July last year, it has been a battle and the police at Itire seem to have suddenly lost interest in the matter after the initial arrest.  “We are afraid the Police may have been compromised, that is why we are appealing to you (IGP) sir to please cause a fresh investigation to begin on this case,” the petition claimed.

 When contacted by telephone since Ogundana and Olatunbosun could no longer be seen or reached, the owner of the now controversial property, Alhaji Salami said he had nothing to say as regards the matter as it was already before the police.

 “I have no further comment on this issue as the police are already involved,” he said and refused to comment further.

Also, it has not been possible to get the  DPO of Itire Division to comment on this matter despite several visits to the station.

 One of the victims, Arinze , asked:  “Should anybody be allowed to get away with such  monumental fraud of over N50 million? Where did we go wrong?And why  would the Itire Police not assist us get justice?

That is why we are praying the IGP and the anti-corruption agencies to come to our rescue.” 

The Guardian

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