6th June, 2022
The Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, arraigned one Mustapha Hamza for N1.2m land fraud.
Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, preceded the case.
Hamza allegedly fraudulently induced one Sayyada Halima Sheik Ibrahim Saleh to deliver to him the said sum on the pretext that he was the owner of a plot of land which he had no authority to sell.
The one-count charge reads: “That you, Mustapha Hamza, sometime in 2018 at Maiduguri, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud dishonestly induced Sayyada Halima Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh to deliver to you the sum of N1, 200,000.00 (One Million Two Hundred Thousand Naira) under the guise that the said amount represents payment for the purchase of a purported plot of land No. 85 on BOTP/61 with Grant Right of Occupancy No. BO/4739 located at Shuwari 2 Ward, Maiduguri, Metropolitans Council (MMC) Local Government Area, Borno State which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 320 (a) and punishable under section 322 of the Penal Code Cap 102 Laws of Borno State.”
However, the defendant pleaded ‘not guilty’ when the charge was read to him.
Counsel for the prosecution, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed asked the court for a trial date and to remand the defendant in prison pending trial.
Justice Kumaliya adjourned till June 14, 2022, for trial and remanded the defendant in prison custody.