A police officer, Umar Yahaya has been duped by an alleged land fraudster, “Adamu Garba” in Mararaba area of Karu Local Government area of Nasarawa State
Yahaya was said to have contacted Garba who claimed to be the owner of a piece of land he purchased for his younger brother.
According to reports, Yahaya got to know that he has been duped when the real land owners showed up, and was told that the land was sold without their consent.
This has been a common scenario in Nasarawa, as the state shares proximity with Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as the communities adjacent to the city are second choice for many workers of the FCT, who cannot afford to rent houses in the capital city or buy a home for their families or businesses.
These land deals have made many prospective buyers fall victims of fraudulent transactions, where one land is sold to many buyers. Land dealers sell off lands, whose owners they don’t even know.
Many have been arrested by the police and monies recovered, while many others have ended up in prisons as a result of such fraudulent acts.
Officer Yahaya, who happened to be the latest victim in the series of such fraud is a police officer, innocently bought a land on behalf of his younger brother, after a bank transfer of N3,300,000 (Three million, three hundred thousand Naira) in favour of Adamu Garba to Guarantee Trust Bank account number 0233933053 on 25th July, 2022.
The alleged fraudster ‘Garba’ and his accomplices are from Maraba area of Nassarawa state.
It was at the point of excavation for the construction of a parameter fence that the real owner of the land surfaced, at the point of which Garba was summoned.
The owner of that piece of land measuring 1,000 square meters, disclosed that she has not sold or instructed anyone to sell her piece of land.
At that point, the victim formally filed a complaint with the police authorities, who arrested the perpetrator.
Subsequently, a court order was secured to detain Garba for two weeks.
While in detention, some payments were made with a pledge to refund the balance when released on bail.
The matter however, took a different dimension when he resorted to blackmail.
On the agreed date for the refund, he failed to turn up or send the money. Instead, he resorted to blackmail.
He went to take pictures of about 10 houses, owned by different landlords in the same neighborhood, got a barely known media company, to write a petition against the same person they have defrauded, that as a civil servant, he should not have an income to buy 10 houses.
The supposed media outfit wrote the letter, without verifying such allegations, but went ahead to write a petition to various government institutions against Yahaya.
The public servant told this medium that he would not give up his money, no matter what blackmail they intend to make. Garba, in a confessional video made to the police, obtained by this medium said he was invited by the leaders of land dealers in Mararraba, Abuja-Keffi highway, to claim that land, for sale, so that they could share the proceed.
Garba and his co-travelers are at large at the time of filing this report.
It was reported that local land dealers along the Abuja Keffi -highway are known for many shady deals over the years, a situation that has landed many of them in jail
