Mr. Ataba Sani-Omolori, poised to become the fifth Ohinoyi of
Ebiraland, has reportedly gone into hiding following a criminal complaint filed
by his sibling alleging he fraudulently sold off one of their late father’s
vast properties and pocketed the proceeds.
The development comes as kingmakers in Ebiraland, Kogi State,
are in the midst of selecting a successor to the recently deceased Ohinoyi,
Abdul Rahman Ado Ibrahim.
Ataba, a former Clerk to the National Assembly, was
considered a frontrunner for the throne but the race has taken a twist with
Ataba now a wanted man.
Known to have groomed himself as next in line for the throne
held by his late father for 40 years until 1997, Ataba now finds himself on the
wrong side of the law over a longstanding N7 billion property
fraud allegations.
According to a police report obtained exclusively, Mr. Ataba
has been evading detectives investigating claims that he illegally sold the
multi-million naira property bought in the name of Mohammed Tata and Sons
Nigeria Limited by his late father.
The allegations resulted in the police investigation into the
sale of the property located at Plot No. 260-Katampe Ext. District in Abuja.
Ataba’s sibling, Buhari Sani-Omolori, filed the complaint on
August 10, 2023, at the Life Camp Police Division in Abuja. The report accused
Ataba of conspiring with a clique of property developers to fraudulently sell
off the land now supposedly valued at hundreds of millions of naira.
According to the documents, 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 directors of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria
Limited, which he is not a director.
The land was allegedly sold by Ataba for a fraction of its
potential value and failed to distribute the proceeds to his siblings, who are
the original directors of the company.
Ataba, according to the police report dated December 6, 2023,
with reference number AB:4099/FCT/LC/VOL.12/75, has remained “at large” and
efforts by police detectives to interview him over the fraud allegations have
“proved abortive”.
In the criminal complaint filed by Buhari Sani-Omolori, the
late monarch’s son said Ataba knew he wasn’t a director in Kareem Mohammed Tata
and Sons Nigeria Limited yet signed as a director during the sale of the
property.
When visited the Life Camp Police Division to extract
further information on the matter, the Divisional Crime Officer said he was not
authorised to speak. The IPO in charge of the case also declined to speak to
our correspondent.
However, a police report on the matter submitted to the
Registrar of the Chief Magistrate Court, Life Camp, Abuja, said: “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
directors of the company of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited.
“That the chief sales representative from Henness Homes and
company, Mr. Ferri Ojomu Emmanuel, was invited and he 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 Nair Only).”
According to the police, “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 N2,000,000 (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 “Efforts made to get
him proved abortive.”
The police said from the investigation conducted so far, they
were able 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.”
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”
ATABA’S LAWYER REACTS
Efforts to reach Mr. Sani-Omolori for comments proved abortive. But his lawyer,
Sani Abbas, denied allegations his client was avoiding arrest, claiming he has
been out of town and would willingly meet with the police on his return.
“First, my client would never avoid the police, that I am
sure of. Secondly, my client has been out of town. I, personally, have been to
the police station and I told the police he is out of town and when he is back,
he would come.
“So, my client is not running away from the police. He would
never refuse to visit any authority that invites him for anything that has a
reasonable cause.
“On the other issues, I do not have my client’s instructions
to speak to you. I would seek his consent and if he gives me the go-ahead, I
would call you,” said Abbas.
OMOLORI’S N7 BILLION ESTATE
In 2021, the children of the late monarch filed a petition before the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking investigations into how
a briefcase containing original documents of their late father’s properties was
allegedly stolen days after his death.
Some of the properties are said to be located in the Maitama,
Katampe, and Mabushi districts of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In 2022, a member of the Omolori family said the family
carried out investigations and found that the monarch’s eldest son, Ataba,
allegedly stole original documents days after their father’s death and sold
them without consulting his siblings or sharing the benefits with them.
Some of Ataba’s siblings died from treatable diseases,
according to family sources who believe the deceased persons could have
afforded medical care if they had received their full inheritance.
– THE WHISTLER
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