A Magistrate Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja on Wednesday remanded in custody a 42-year-old man, Lateef Abu, for attempting to dupe a former minister of a landed property in the FCT.
Mr. Abu, who is a staff of the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), is standing trial on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and forgery.
The prosecutor, Insp Emmanuel Adoku, told the court that one Kudirat Abubakar, also of AGIS, reported the matter at the FCT Police Command on Aug. 15.
The Magistrate, Mr Anka Mustapha, refused to grant bail and ordered that the accused be remanded at the Kuje prison while adjourning the case till Nov. 24.
The prosecutor said the accused forged a Certificate of Occupancy of a plot of land belonging to a former Minister of the FCT, Alhaji Mohammed Abba Gana.
He said that the accused subsequently attempted to sell the land.
The prosecutor, however, added that the scam was uncovered during a legal search by the prospective buyer.
He said that the accused had obtained the original document from the former minister on the pretext that there was a prospective buyer interested in the property.
Adoku said that the accused, who could not give reasons for his action, pleaded for forgiveness and attributed his action to the economic hardship in the country.
The prosecutor said that the offences committed contravened Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.
When the charge was read to the accused in court, he pleaded guilty.
*Source: Thenews Magazine
