Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja High Court has fixed July 3 for judgment in a suit challenging the sale of a dead woman’s property in Lekki, Lagos.
Justice Taiwo fixed the date after parties filed their final written addresses.
A lawyer, Kole Bello, is standing trial for allegedly selling the dead woman’s property with forged documents.
Chukwu Victor, Friday Palmer and Osumah Terry are the other defendants.
They were accused of selling a landed property in Lekki belonging to the late Mrs Francisca Awolaja.
They are facing a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud and forgery filed against them by Lagos State in October 2017.
They allegedly forged a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) with reference no. 63/63/1989, dated September 28, 1989.
The defendants were also accused of impersonating the late Awolaja to sell her land to one Mr Rotimi Olubeko for N5 million.
Read also: Dismissal must be for justifiable reason, court rules
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
Prosecuting counsel Mrs Olayemi Sarumi urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.
Counsel to the first defendant, Ayotunde Akintunde (SAN) argued that the prosecution failed to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubts.
He told the court that all the actions the first defendant took were taken as a legal practitioner in a commercial transaction.
The SAN said prosecution’s evidence and witness testiminies attested to their contention that the service of a lawyer is always engaged in such transaction.
He claimed the evidence of the witnesses contained a lot of inconsistences and doubts and urged the court to resolve such in favour of his client.
Akintunde said there was no evidence to show conspiracy as the entire transaction took place in the open and in the first defendant’s office.
He urged the court to discharge and acquit the first defendant, insisting that no evidence has been laid before the court to convict him.
Counsel to the second and third defendants, Francis Udokporoh, said the third defendant never met any of the parties and that his alleged role in the case was that of referral .
He said there was no evidence to show that he was involved in the transaction.
On the second defendant, he said parties in the dispute said they didn’t know him and that by the time he joined the transaction, the preliminaries had been completed.
He urged the court to discharge and acquit his clients.
Counsel to the fourth defendant, Mike Moghalu, said the prosecution failed to prove the charge against his client.
He urged the court to discharge and acquit him, insisting that he was not part of the alleged forgery offence.
Besides, he said the prosecution has failed to prove that any of the documents used in the transaction were cloned.
Leave a Reply