The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday presented two witnesses in the ongoing trial of Murtala Adebayo over an alleged N19 million land fraud before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja.
Adebayo is being prosecuted on a three-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence. He was initially arraigned on January 24, 2024 before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State High Court, where he pleaded not guilty.
However, Justice Dada withdrew from the case after allegations surfaced that the defendant allegedly used falsified documents from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and fake tax records to secure bail. The case was subsequently reassigned by the Chief Judge to Justice Oshodi for trial to commence afresh.
According to one of the charges, Adebayo allegedly obtained N4.5 million in 2015 from one Gafar Abiodun Ademolake under the pretext that the payment was for three plots of land at Ogombo, Ajah, Lagos — a representation the prosecution said he knew to be false.
Another count alleges that in 2019, the defendant obtained three vehicles — two Toyota Camry 2005 models and one Honda Accord 2006 model — valued at N9 million from the same complainant as supposed balance payment for 18 plots of land at Ayogbemi Village, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the second prosecution witness, Ademolake Aminat Keji, identified the defendant as her biological father and family head in Ajah, Lagos.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel I.O. Daramola, Keji, an officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, narrated how she and her husband ventured into land investment based on her father’s advice.
She told the court that Adebayo encouraged them to invest gradually in landed property and volunteered to assist them despite their inexperience. During visits to his office, she said they met individuals identified as Ahmed Balogun and Godwin Richard, who handled payments and documentation.
she said payments were made both via bank deposits and cash, after which receipts and deeds of assignment were issued. She said they were later advised to secure their plots by erecting block markers, which required additional payments.
Keji further testified that after being informed that the defendant had eight acres of land available, she and her husband proceeded to acquire 18 plots.
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Weeks after the transactions, she said, the defendant requested that they purchase three vehicles for him — two Toyota Camry 2025 models and one Honda 2026 model — which were delivered to his residence.
“Attempts to take possession of the land later failed. He avoided our phone calls and failed to allocate the plots to us,” she told the court.
She said family members intervened after she reported the matter to her elder brothers and an uncle, adding that a former staff member of the defendant hinted that similar incidents had occurred in the past.
According to her, when they revisited the land, block structures erected to demarcate their plots had been destroyed.
“After several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the dispute internally, my husband and I resolved to petition the EFCC,” she said, adding that the defendant allegedly ignored three EFCC invitations before his eventual arrest.
She identified receipts admitted as Exhibits B–B2 and deeds of assignment marked C1–C3 and D1–D3. She also stated that another parcel of land later allocated to them was discovered through a surveyor’s charting exercise to belong to a different owner.
“Until now, my father has not given us a single plot of land,” she said.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Bamidele Ogundele, the witness confirmed that during investigations, her husband received N4.5 million from the defendant at the EFCC office.
The third prosecution witness, Felicia Paul, an EFCC operative, told the court that investigations commenced following a petition filed by the nominal complainant through his lawyer.
She said the complainant met the defendant in 2015 for the purchase of plots of land in Ogombo, Ajah and Ibeju-Lekki areas of Lagos.
“The complainant paid N4.5 million for the land at Ogombo and another N14.5 million for the land at Ibeju-Lekki. He also gave the defendant three vehicles valued at N9 million in exchange for land at Ibeju-Lekki,” she testified.
Paul added that payments were made in cash and via transfers into the defendant’s accounts, as well as through staff members identified as Ahmed, Richard and Godwin.
She told the court that the EFCC recovered N4.5 million relating to the Ogombo property and returned it to the complainant. Documentary evidence of payments and acknowledgements by the defendant were also obtained during the investigation.
She stated that, when the complainant visited the Ogombo property, he discovered that other individuals were already occupying the land.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter to May 14 and 15, 2026 for continuation of trial and cross-examination.
