28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019—7
Property agents fleece pastor,
newly-wed of N3.9m in Lagos
By Esther Onyegbula
FIVE members of a syndicate
that defrauded a newly-wed
couple of N900,000, posing as
estate agents, have been
arrested by operatives of Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS,
attached to the Lagos State
Police Command.
The suspects, identified as
Matthew, 42; Elabor Aruoya, 61;
Adesina Abegunde, 54; Segun
Adewale, 42, and Olamide
Ojajinu, 42, were arrested after
they defrauded the couple, who
contacted them after seeing an
advert they placed as house
agents.
It was gathered that the
fraudsters collected N3 million
for a duplex at Ikeja, GRA, from
another victim, who is a pastor
in Lekki, in the same manner.
Parading the suspects
alongside other notorious
criminals, the Commissioner of
Police, Lagos State, Muazu
Zubairu, said on February 15,
the Police received a complaint
by a newly-wed couple that they
saw an advert on a wall by a
house agent.
He said: “They called the
person, who lured and
brainwashed them after which
they collected N900,000 from
them. These same suspects have
By Dayo Johnson
AKURE—A High Court
sitting in Akure, the Ondo
state capital yesterday
sentenced Saidu-Shakiru
Adeyemi, the killer boyfriend
of the daughter of the former
deputy governor of the state,
Khadijat Oluboyo, to death by
hanging.
The lovers dated, it was
gathered for four years before
the accused person killed and
buried her in his room, slept
on her grave for five days
before he was apprehended by
police detectives invited by his
father, Seidu Siyanbola, a
bricklayer.
The 27-year-old accused, who
was brought to court on a one
count charge of murder, was a
graduate of Quantity Survey at
the Federal University of
Technology, Akure, and did his
Youth Corp Service at Katsina
state in 2017 while the
deceased was a 25 year old
final year student of the
Adekunle Ajasin University,
Akungba Akoko in Ondo state.
Late Khadijat was buried in
a shallow grave dug by the
accused in his room located at
No 17 Adegbolarin Layout
Aratunsin, Oke-Aro in Akure
metropolis.
Delivering judgement the
trial Judge, Justice Samuel
Bola, said the prosecutor had
defrauded a pastor, who wanted
to rent a duplex at Ikeja, GRA, of
N3 million in the same manner.”
Victim’s account
Narrating their ordeal, the
newly-weds said sometime last
month, they saw an advert by a
house agent, so they called the
number and the person that
answered introduced himself as
a house agent but claimed to be
out of Lagos.
They said: “He later sent the
phone number of his partner,
who we called and scheduled a
meeting with. The next day, we
met him and he took us to
Agidingbi area of Ikeja where
he showed us an empty three
bedroom flat.
“Thereafter, he made a call
and informed us that the
landlord was in the church
attending a service. He took us
to a Catholic Church at Ikeja.
“Immediately we arrived at
the church, an elderly man,
Elabor Aruoya came out of the
church hall and said to us ‘are
you the lucky tenant? After
negotiations, he gave us an
account number into which we
paid N900,000.
“However, trouble started
when we decided to visit the
apartment we paid for the next
day to take possession, but were
Killer-boyfriend of ex-Ondo Dep
gov's daughter to die by hanging
proved the case of murder
against the accused person
beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Bola said
circumstantial evidence
connected the accused to the
gruesome murder of the
deceased.
“The death of the victim
emanated from the injuries she
sustained in the hands of the
accused persons and not a
natural death.
“It was the defendant that
killed the deceased person and
not two men as he claimed. It
was an attempt to cover up that
he claimed that two men invited
to his room by his girlfriend
strangulated her.
“That he was threatened by
the two men cannot exonerate
the defendant because he had
the opportunity to raise alarm
when he said the two men
asked him to bring a shovel and
digger from the house to dig the
grave where they buried the
deceased.
“This court finds it difficult to
believe his evidence that two
men invited by the deceased
murdered her in his room and
he dug a shallow grave where
she was buried and he fetched
cement which was used to
plaster the grave and he
covered it with rug”
“The act of killing the
deceased was intentional.
Evidences showed that the
chased out by the rightful
landlord. We called the phone
numbers of the acclaimed
estate agents and that of the
landlord. Unfortunately, their
numbers were switched off.”
Suspect’s account
The suspect, 42-year-old
Olamide Ojajiu, told
Vanguard: “I was arrested
when we were having a
meeting at Oshodi area. I
was the person that the
victims called to show them
the house. I went into this
business after I had some
financial issues.
“This is the second time we
are doing this kind of
business. I provided them
with the account number,
which they gave to the victim
who wanted to rent an
apartment. The first time the
victim paid N3,000,000 and I
got N600,000.”
Denying the allegation, the
second suspect, 61-year-old
Elabor Aruoya, who usually
pose as the fake landlord, said
he and members of his gang
are estate agents, who help
people secure properties.
“We search for properties
which are available for sale.
As agents, we don’t need to
own a house,” he said.
deceased was last seen with
the defendant and she never
came out of his room alive
but her decomposing corpse
recovered after five days.
“Although there is no direct
evidence as to who killed the
deceased but there is no
doubt that they knew each
other, that she died in his
room and she was buried in
a shallow grave dug in his
room and that she did not die
a natural death but as a
result of the injuries inflicted
on her by the accused person
as explained by the
consultant pathologist, Dr.
Olumuyiwa Pelemo in his
evidence.
Justice Bola, however, after
reviewing the evidences
declared that” having found
you guilty, the sentence of
this court upon you is that
you, Sehidu Adeyemi, will
be hanged until you are
dead. May God have mercy
on your soul”
Efforts to speak with the
father of the deceased, Alhaji
Oluboyo or the wife proved
abortive as they did not pick
their calls.
Alhaji Oluboyo had said
from the day the daughter
was murdered that he was
not interested in the court
case as the outcome would
not bring back his first
daughter from the dead.
... with Emma'nKen (08163121378)
I hear they've presented FG with
10 demands. Na siddon look I dey
Who cares, as long as he pays the
bills and gave you a fine kitchen?
All the drawing of specimen Z
and looking for the value of X!