A 38-year-old man, Bello Alaba, has been arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court for an alleged double dealing in land transaction.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Oriyomi Akinwale, told the court that the defendant and others at large committed the offence on October 20, 2019, at Ulero farmland in Ado-Ekiti.
He alleged that the defendant and others at large sold a plot of land to one Yakubu Bamidele and seven plots of land to others yet to be identified, saying the land has been previously sold to one Major Sunday Adewunmi by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.
Akinwale said that the defendant and others at large sold the land without a court judgment repudiating the earlier sale.
Inspector Akinwale said the offence contravened section 9(3) and punishable under section 9(4) of Ekiti State Property Protection (Anti-Land Grabbing) Law 2019.
The prosecutor asked the court for adjournment to enable him to study the case file and present his witnesses while the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.
His counsel, Mr Tayo Oloruntola, urged the court to grant him bail, with a promise that he would not jump bail.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye, granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case until November 20, 2019 for hearing.