Samson, who are both involved in a N130m land scam in Lekki, have been
declared wanted by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU).
The police said that after admitting to the crime and refunding part
of the money, the former deputy governor jumped bail and is now at
large.
Below are details of how she perfected the N130million fraud:
According to a petition sent to the DIG 'D' Department to the
Commissioner of Police, SFU; Mrs. Ojikutu and her son conspired and
sold a parcel of land at Plot 24 Block 4 at Admiralty Way, Lekki,
Lagos.
The buyer, whom the police did not name, said that he deposited the
N130 million into Mrs. Ojikutu's Union Bank account in tranches.
After payment, According to Premium Times report, the buyer said that
he requested for the title document of land but was told that the
original documents had been lost.
To back up her claim, the former deputy governor procured an
affidavit, a police crime extract, and a publication in the Vanguard
Newspaper of 18th October 2011, all purported evidence to the loss of
the original documents.
"The petitioner believed her because of her personality as the former
Deputy Governor of Lagos State," the police said in the statement
signed by Ngozi Isintume-Agu, the Police Public Relations Officer,
SFU.
After the petitioner commenced development on the land and was on the
verge of completion, the original owner of the land turned up and it
was discovered that the land did not belong to the ex-deputy governor,
the police said.
"She actually sold Plot 23 Block 4 while Plot 24 Block 4 already has a
property on it," the statement added.
Police said that investigations revealed that the land sold by Mrs.
Ojikutu actually belonged to one Mr. Afolabi.
"It was also discovered that the Plot 24 Block 4, which actually
belonged to late Samson Adebisi Ojikutu (Snr), the suspect's husband
who died in 2008 was sold by him in 1995 and the suspect was a life
witness and appended her signature to the sale of the land," the
police said.
"The suspect further perpetrated the crime by alleging that the
original C of O to the property was missing and swore and affidavit
which enabled her obtain a Police Report and Memorandum of Loss.
"She also put up an advert in newspapers that the original C of O is
lost whereas the original C of O is with Hallmark Homes, the buyer of
the property," the police added in their statement.
Jumped police bail
Mrs. Ojikutu, 67, served as deputy governor of Lagos State between
1992 and 1993 before the Sani Abacha led military coup truncated the
democratic governance.
The police said that she connived with her son, Samson Adebisi
Ojikutu, who is currently in the USA, to commit the fraud.
"She (Mrs. Ojikutu) admitted the crime but confessed that it was a
genuine mistake of plot identification," said the police.
"She refunded the sum of N50 million to the complainant and promised
to refund the balance as soon as she disposed her two properties she
put up for sale.
"She also confessed that she had injected the complainant's money in
her business."
The police further stated that Mrs. Ojikutu also made an undertaking
and a payment plan was drawn up from September 2012 to November 2012.
The former deputy governor defaulted to the plan due to lack of fund,
according to the police.
"Police further discovered that the suspect is not willing to abide by
the terms of repayment. She jumped police bail and has been elusive.
Frantic efforts have been made to re-arrest her which proved
abortive," said the statement.
"The Nigeria Police, Special Fraud Unit hereby declares Alhaja Sinatu
Aderoju Ojikutu wanted. Anybody with useful information regarding her
where about should report to the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud
Unit, 13 Milverton Road, Ikoyi."
A retiree from Lagos Island, Mrs. Ojikutu hugged media headlines last
April after a Lagos High Court ordered the state government to pay her
all her retirement benefits and pension.
The Lagos State Government had stopped her entitlements after the
House of Assembly enacted a law that stated that "a public office
holder shall not be entitled to a grant of pension under this law if
he was removed from office by the process of impeachment or for breach
of any provision of the constitution."
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