The witness said the defendants produced no deed of assignment, power of attorney or other authorisation empowering them to sell the properties.
A prosecution witness on Thursday told the Federal High Court in Abuja how a realtor and her co-defendants allegedly sold portions of three disputed plots of land in a choice part of Abuja to members of the public without any document confirming their ownership of the land.
Ahmed Gbigbadua, a witness from the Extractive Industries Fraud Section of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told Judge Joyce Abdulmalik that the defendants issued offer letters, payment receipts and other documents to buyers, none of which could be compared with the genuine title documents issued by the FCT Department of Land Administration.
Mr Gbigbadua gave the evidence during the continuation of the trial of Abuja-based realtor Rebecca Godwin-Isaac, her husband, Isaac Ishaku, Richard John, and two companies, Homadil Realty Limited and Rychado Homes Limited.
The defendants are facing charges over alleged land fraud, forgery and money laundering involving Plot 4022 in Guzape District and Plots 1861, 1862 and 1863 in Katampe District, Abuja.
The EFCC alleges that the defendants collected more than N500 million from multiple victims between 2023 and 2024 and laundered the proceeds through company accounts.
Mr Gbigbadua, who took the stand as the fifth prosecution witness, told the court that the EFCC began investigating the matter after receiving a petition from the chambers of human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on behalf of Colleen Yesufu, concerning the three Katampe plots.
He said the commission’s investigation showed that May Estate Agency, Fafan Agency Limited and Adamu Ayinloda Estate Company applied for and obtained Rights of Occupancy and other title documents for the properties.
Led in evidence by EFCC’s prosecution lawyer, Christopher Mshelia, the witness said one Shaka Braimah subsequently collected the title documents for the three plots from the Federal Capital Territory Department of Land Administration.
According to him, the three companies were therefore the lawful allottees of the plots, the Whistler reported.
The witness explained that a man identified as Shaka Braimah collected the title documents for the three properties from the FCT Department of Land Administration.
He said the EFCC invited Mrs Godwin-Isaac and the other defendants for questioning after obtaining the documents relating to the properties.
However, Mr Gbigbadua noted that the defendants could not produce any document showing that the land had been transferred to them by the original allottees.
He revealed that they produced no deed of assignment, power of attorney or other authorisation empowering them to sell the properties.
Despite this, the witness said, Homadil Realty Limited and Rychado Homes Limited issued offer letters, payment receipts and other documents to people who bought portions of the land.
He stated that the documents issued by the companies could not be compared with the genuine title documents issued by the Department of Land Administration.
The witness further alleged that the defendants misled members of the public by presenting themselves as owners of the disputed plots or persons authorised to sell them.
Earlier, the fourth prosecution witness, Abdulhamid Wundil of the FCT Department of Land Administration, confirmed that a letter authorising the issuance of the plots to Shaka Braimah.
However, during cross-examination by defence lawyer, Christopher Oshomeghie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Wundil said he could not locate the department’s copy of the letter.
Ye maintained that the letter was issued in 2007 when the department operated from Wuse, Abuja. He said the letter could have been lost in transit.
The proceedings also marked the return to court of Mrs Godwin-Isaac, whom the judge earlier ordered the EFCC to arrest and produce after she failed to appear at the previous hearing.
The EFCC produced her in court on Thursday.
However, the judge rejected the commission’s application remanded her in its custody until the next hearing in the trial.
The arrest order followed a dispute over the EFCC’s continued presence at Mrs Godwin-Isaac’s Guzape residence in connection with a separate civil case involving an interim forfeiture order over a disputed property.
At the previous proceedings, EFCC lawyer Benedict Ubi told the court that Mrs Godwin-Isaac was under what he described as a “self-imposed house arrest”.
Mr Ubi alleged that she had obstructed EFCC officials from executing the forfeiture order and had breached the conditions of her administrative bail by repeatedly travelling outside the jurisdiction of the court.
But her lawyer, Mr Oshomeghie, disagreed.
He told the court that EFCC operatives had laid siege to his client’s residence for 23 days, effectively preventing her from leaving the property.
Mr Oshomeghie said Mrs Godwin-Isaac had remained indoors because she feared for her safety and that the situation had affected her health.
The EFCC rejected the claim, insisting that Mrs Godwin-Isaac had the keys to the property and had locked herself inside, while its operatives were outside to enforce the court’s order.
After hearing both sides, Mrs Abdulmalik ordered the EFCC to take Mrs Godwin-Isaac into custody and produce her in court on Thursday.
