Posted by By JULIANA FRANCIS on
The long arm of the law has caught up with a 74-year-old grandfather, who allegedly forged a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of a land which does not belong to him.
The long arm of the law has caught up with a 74-year-old grandfather, who allegedly forged a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of a land which does not belong to him.
The man, who was identified as Pa Musiliu Laguda, is currently in the cell of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC) telling operatives of the agency how he became part of a syndicate that specialized in forging Certificates of Occupancy to procure bail for suspects in Lagos.
Other members of the gang, now in EFCC net, were identified as Omotayo Ibrahim, 65, Gabriel Adefatola 68, Alhaji Aliyu Olaniyan, 63, Emenike Igwe, 47, and Godwin Bassey, 51.
Daily Sun discovered that Pa Laguda had procured a fake C of O and tried to pass it off at EFCC as genuine when the operatives of commission caught him.
It was gathered that some weeks back, the operatives of EFCC had arrested a man on a fraud related matter. After interrogation and investigation, the commission was said to have decided to grant bail to the suspect. To get the bail, he was to meet some certain conditions. One of the conditions was for him to bring a surety with landed property in Lagos. A lawyer, who was described as a professional charge and bail attorney had come forward with the fake C of O to take the suspect on bail. On closer look, the EFCC operatives discovered that the document was falsified.
He was immediately apprehended. Upon interrogation, he gave the names of other members of the syndicate involved in the scam. The operatives were said to have been shocked when they discovered that the men behind the dastardly crime were all senior citizens.
Some of them were alleged to have confessed that they've been in the business for almost 30 years.
Pa Laguda told EFCC that Pa Adefatola was the leader of the gang. He also said he was promised N3000 to procure the C of O.
Pa Adefatola said he started doing charge and bail in the early 1980s, adding that at present, he charges between N10,000 and N15,000 to stand as surety for any suspect, depending on the nature of the crime and the status of the suspect.
He denied knowing that the two C of Os found in his apartment were fake. He revealed that a man from the notorious Oluwole in Lagos used to visit his shop whenever he needed such documents.
Pa Olaniyan said he knew nothing about the crime.
Emenike Igwe also denied being involved in the crime. All the suspects would soon be charged to court.