Police Report Indicts Former NASS Clerk, Others Over Illegal Land Sale

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has stated that the former Clerk of the National Assembly, Ataba Sani-Omolori, and five others have a case to answer over alleged criminal conspiracy, trespass, and cheating.

According to the police report obtained by LEADERSHIP, the suspects were allegedly involved in the illegal sale of property located at Plot No. 260-Katampe Ext. District in Abuja.

Apart from the former National Assembly Clerk, who is reportedly at large according to the police report, others indicted in the report include Hennes Home, HRH Igwe Gabrel Umeh, Bala Khamofu, Nwegwa Uchenna, and Paul Igwe Nwagbabu.

Buhari Sani Omolori, Ataba’s brother, who reported the case to the police on August 10, 2023, alleged that his brother conspired with other suspects, who are developers, to sell off the land, now supposedly valued at hundreds of millions of naira.

The documents reveal that Ataba conspired with several individuals, including Messrs Hennes Homes Limited, HRH Igwe Gabriel Umeh, Mr. Bala Khamofu, Nwegwa Uchenna, and Paul Igwe Nwagbamu, to sell the property without the consent of the directors of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited, of which he is not a director.

Reportedly, the land was sold by Ataba for a fraction of its potential value and he failed to distribute the proceeds to his siblings, who are the original directors of the company.

As per the police report dated December 6, 2023, with reference number AB:4099/FCT/LC/VOL.12/75, Ataba has remained “at large,” and efforts by police detectives to interview him over the fraud allegations have “proved abortive.”

However, a police report submitted to the Registrar of the Chief Magistrate Court, Life Camp, Abuja, stated: “Henness Homes company trespassed into the land, claiming to have bought the said land from HRH Igwe Gabriel Umeh (and) were building on the said land without the consent of the directors of the company of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited.”

It was noted that “the chief sales representative from Henness Homes and company, Mr. Ferri Ojomu Emmanuel, was invited and stated that Henness Homes Company bought the said land from HRH Igwe Gabriel Umeh, while HRH Igwe Gabriel stated that he bought the said land from one Mr. Bala Kharnofu in the year 2000 at the rate of N4,500,000.00 (Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only).”

The police mentioned that “Mr. Bala Khamofu, in return, stated that he bought the said land from one Mr. Abdulrazaq Ataba Sani Omolori ‘m’ who is now at large at the rate of N2,000,00 (Two Million Naira Only).”

The police further stated that they invited all the suspects for questioning and obtained voluntary statements from them “except Mr. Abdulrazaq Ataba Sani Omolori ‘m’ who is now at large” and that “efforts made to get him proved abortive.”

The investigation conducted so far allowed the police to establish that “the person who signed the Director Column for the purchase of the land is not among the four Shareholders of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited.”

Consequently, the Life Camp Police Command recommended that “in view of the above, a prima facie case of Criminal Conspiracy and Trespass should be established against all the suspects mentioned above, while the case of cheating should be established against Abdulrazaq Ataba Sani Omolori ‘m’ who is now at large.”