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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