CITY NEWS Group tasks kids, Pastor remanded over teens on N3.2m land fraud entrepreneurship

A41-year-old pastor has been remanded in prison custody by an Abuja Grade 1 Area Court for allegedly defrauding one Osineke Stanley to the tune of N3,220,000.

Amaechi Julius of Kubwa extension layout was charged for using a forged document, criminal breach of trust and cheating, offences contrary to sections 366, 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The prosecutor, Innah Omoh, told the court that the complainant, on June 15, reported at the Kubwa Police Area Command Headquarters that the accused, sometimes in 2011, defrauded him of the sum of N3,220, 000 through the sale of a plot of land with No. L197, Kubwa extension 3, FCDA scheme.

He said that the plot of land was later confirmed to be fake by the issuing authority, (Bwari zonal land coordinator), adding that the accused later gave another plot, L301 Kubwa extension 3 layout, to the complainant which also turned out to be fake.

The prosecutor said that the accused also offered the complainant another plot L55 in the same area which was also discovered to be invalid.

Omoh added that in all the transactions, the accused was aware that the documents were forged but presented them as genuine because he, “intended to swindle the complainant.”

When the charges were read to the accused person, he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N3.5m by the judge, Mohammed Marafa, with two reasonable sureties, one who must be a civil servant of not less than Grade Level 10 and resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

The case was adjourned to August 23 for hearing. A nongovernmentalorganisation, Kids and Teens with Outstanding Leadership Abilities (KOLA) Initiatives, has urged kids and teenagers to develop their entrepreneurship skills.

The Programme Director of KOLA Initiatives, Ifeoma Ochibe-Dinnah, who made this known at the 2016 kids and teens awards in Abuja, recently, implored them to work hard, persevere and profit from their talents.

She advised them to involve their friends in their work to enhance their entrepreneurial skill.

She said that the group used to give awards to five children, annually, to spur them to do more.

“A software developer was awarded last year and from there she had the software launched on play store.” she said.