A Yaba Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Thursday sentenced a 50-year-old driver, Banjoko Abiodun, to two years in prison for N1.5 million land scam.
The convict was tried on a two-count charge of stealing and obtaining money by false pretences.
Magistrate Oluwatoyin Ojuromi sentenced Abiodun to 12 months imprisonment on each of the two-count charge.
She ruled that the sentences would run concurrently.
Ojuromi also ordered the convict to return the N1.5 million to the complainant, Mr Olatunji Abiola, as restitution.
She ruled that should the convict return the money, the convict could be released at any time before the completion of the jail term.
The convict, who resides in Mushin area of Lagos, was arraigned on Oct. 31, 2016, and had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Godwin Oriabure, told the court that the convict committed the offences on April 15, 2015 at Bariga area of Lagos.
Oriabure said that the convict collected N1.5 million from Abiola on the pretence of selling a plot of land to him for the purpose of building his church.
The prosecutor said that the convict claimed that the land was his personal property and not a family land, knowing that information to be false.
He said the convict family denied given Abiodun the right to sell the land, and asked Abiola to approach the convict to refund his money, which he could not.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Sections 285 and 312 (1) (A) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 (Revised).
