A Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) employee, Kingsley Eselebor, has been sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for defrauding his neighbour, Moses Osinachi, in a fraudulent Abuja land deal.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the case involved two plots of land in Kubwa District Central Annex, Abuja, which Mr Osinachi had paid for but which Mr Eselebor failed to deliver.

The anti-graft agency stated that upon completion of the payment, the convict reportedly provided the victim with two conveyance documents bearing the names Yusuf Lawan and Adegoke Asiwaju to convince him that the properties were genuine.

However, when Mr Osinachi attempted to take possession of the properties he had paid for, he allegedly discovered that the documents provided by Mr Eselebor, a fellow church member, were fake and that the latter had no right to transfer ownership of the land, prompting him to demand a refund.

“The transaction later ran into difficulty when Osinachi attempted to take possession of the properties and discovered that Eselebor had no valid title to transfer to him. When confronted, Eselebor reportedly admitted that he knew the properties had rival claimants and promised to find alternative plots for the petitioner. The promise was not fulfilled,” the EFCC stated.

After unsuccessful attempts to recover his money, Mr Osinachi petitioned the EFCC, which filed an amended five-count charge against Mr Eselebor at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in 2021 over allegations of obtaining money under false pretences and forgery, the commission explained.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Justice A.O. Musa found Mr Eselebor guilty on all five counts and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment each on counts one, two and three, and two years each on counts four and five, amounting to a total of 25 years’ imprisonment.

The judge, however, ordered that the prison terms should run concurrently, without an option of a fine.

“This judgment has served as a deterrent to all these land racketeering, you know, these fraudsters, parading fake documents, defrauding unsuspecting victims. You understand? In this case, the defendant is a staff of FCDA,” EFCC’s Director of Criminal Litigation and Prosecution counsel, Joshua Saidi, said in his reaction to the judgment.

He added that Mr Eselebor “paraded fake documents. And the court was also not happy with that attitude. Where is the trust? Yes, where is the trust? That means you are not safe, I’m not safe. You go to land, you want a genuine document, they give you all these fake papers, and at the end of the day, they scam you, they defraud you.”