Ayeni Olusakin (not real name), a real estate agent resident in Abokeiuta, the capital of Ogun State, has revealed how Surajudeen Odunewu, his friend and business partner, sold him a fake piece of land in December 2023 for N5 million to part-fund his relocation to Canada.

The real estate agent told FIJ that Odunewu had set up the fake land sale so that he could use the proceeds to fund his journey out of Nigeria. However, because Olusakin had worked with Odunewu for four years before the incident, he did not see through the ruse until he became a victim.

Olusakin explained how Odunewu left him in limbo by refusing to provide the documents backing the property sale as is customary.

“He sold two plots of land in Abeokuta to me, last year December and I paid N5 million. I first paid N2 million, then I paid N3 million. He also requested a commission which is N250,000 and I paid him. The lawyer prepared the deed of assignment for me. I signed and he signed too,” he told FIJ.

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“Unfortunately, that day, he did not come with a witness. I believe it was planned. So, we agreed he would give his witness his deed of assignment to sign and return to me”

“At a point, I started calling him and his number was unreachable. So, I guessed he probably left the country because I observed he was online. At a point, I started calling him through WhatsApp.”

“He told me he was somewhere and he would be back by March, this year. Mind you, I was asking him at the time if he had relocated and responded that he had not.”

At this point in their interaction, Olusakin was only wary that his business partner had relocated without due diligence in documentation. But he began clearing the land and building on it regardless. He had made significant progress on the land when the misfortune Odunewu had planned struck him.

“Naturally, I began building on the land. I cleared it and started building. I was about to fix a borehole and a pumping machine when one day, I arrived and saw that some people had raised a fence and pulled up a land theft caveat on the property,” he said.

“I called the number I saw on the caveat signpost and the person showed up. Meanwhile, this guy has a colleague he worked with in the area called Idowu. This Idowu too came over with the owner of the place and he was surprised at the dilemma.

“The Idowu knew how far his partner Odunewu and I had worked together so he did not expect him to pull a fast one on me. Eventually, we tried calling him at the time but he didn’t answer the calls. It was the point that the owners told me that the land wasn’t for sale.

“Idowu told me that he was eventually able to reach him, that is, Odunewu and he opened up about how he sold the land because he needed money to relocate. He didn’t give any money to the owners of the land.”

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After several attempts at reaching him had failed, Olusakin told FIJ that Odunewu contacted him of his own accord and promised a refund in April 2024. But considering the cost Olusakin had incurred for developing the land and the commitments tied to the project, he rejected the proposal.

“I told him April was too long for me and I could not wait that long. I told him to pay me up by February ending, the latest. I told him I wanted that N6.5 million. There was a road development ongoing in the area and it would affect the price of land in that area, so we agreed to N6.5 million.

“There was also the cost I had incurred in developing the land. He said he could not gather the money by February. He made bold negotiations and he wasn’t even remorseful. What I care about most is my money. Especially with the way prices are going up these days”

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On February 6, when FIJ reached out to Odunewu, he admitted to the sale of the land. He however promised a refund by April and even proposed additional interest on the money.

According to him, he needed time to begin work in the new country he was in. It’s been more than two months since Odunewu spoke to FIJ without any attempt at refunding Olusakin.

FIJ contacted him on April 8 to remind him of his commitment and get an update on the situation. However, he has not responded to any of the messages as of press time.