Court jails land-fraud official for seven years

ABUJA, Nigeria — The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has convicted and sentenced Kinsley Eselebor, a staff member of the Federal Capital Development Authority, to seven years’ imprisonment for his role in land racketeering.

Justice A.O. Musa delivered the judgment on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, according to a statement the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission issued the same day. The court found Eselebor guilty on all five counts. Counts one to three, relating to obtaining money under false pretences, carry seven years each. Counts four and five, relating to the use of forged documents as genuine, carry two years each. The sentences run concurrently, so the total is seven years, with no option of a fine.

The Commission said Eselebor, an employee of the authority’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, took money from a land buyer, Moses Osinachi, for two plots of land at Kubwa District Central Annex in Abuja. He presented the plots, numbered 383 and 424, as genuine, although he had no title to sell them.

The court heard that Eselebor used two conveyance documents in the names of Yusuf Lawan and Adegoke Asiwaju to convince Osinachi the properties were genuine. The two men were neighbours and worshipped at the same church. When Osinachi tried to take possession and found that Eselebor had no valid title to transfer, he asked for a refund, which was not paid. He then petitioned the Commission, which investigated and arraigned him.

The charge was first filed in March 2021 with three counts of obtaining money under false pretences. It was later amended to five counts, adding the two counts of using forged documents.

The Commission’s Director of Criminal Litigation and prosecuting counsel, Joshua Saidi, said the conviction should deter people from using fake documents to defraud property buyers. He said the defendant’s position as a government employee had been used to lend credibility to the fraud, which he described as a concern for public confidence.

The case follows a warning the Commission issued almost a year ago about a suspected fake land vendor who had allegedly sold non-existent properties in Abuja. Inquiries made to the Authority at the time confirmed that none of the locations marketed by the agents existed.