The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has been asked to intervene in a long-standing inheritance dispute involving the children of the late Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Muhammed Sani Omolori, who died on July 10, 1996. The call for intervention comes after the late monarch’s children alleged that their brother, Ataba Abdulrazak Sani Omolori, former Clerk of the National Assembly and Ciroma of Ebira, stole their inheritance worth over N7 billion.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
In a letter addressed to the Sultan, dated June 19, 2024, seen by THE WHISTLER, the children of the late Ohinoyi detailed their struggles to reclaim their inheritance and sought the Sultan’s intervention after failed attempts to resolve the matter through amicable means, both in court and through law enforcement agencies.
According to the letter titled “Impunity Upon Stolen Inheritance“, the dispute centers around several valuable properties in Abuja, including lands in Maitama, Asokoro, Katampe, and Mabushi. The children alleged that documents related to these properties were stolen from their father’s briefcase shortly after his death, along with precious stones and contract agreements.
The letter states that Ataba Omolori promised to bring some of the property documents to a family meeting but subsequently failed to attend any further meetings. Investigations by family members allegedly revealed that three of the lands whose documents were stolen had been sold by Ataba Omolori.
The family claims to have exhausted various channels in their quest for justice, including appealing to traditional rulers, involving the Attorney General of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, and even filing a case in a Sharia court. Despite these efforts, they say the matter remains unresolved.
Of particular concern is the alleged sale of a plot in Katampe, which the family discovered was under construction by a contractor named Hennes Homes in June 2022. The family claims that their father’s company, Kareem Muhammed Tata and Sons, was listed as the Client/Developer without the knowledge or consent of the company’s directors.
A police report obtained exclusively by THE WHISTLER had revealed that Mr. Ataba was evading detectives investigating claims that he illegally sold the Katampe property. The case was filed on August 10, 2023, at the Life Camp Police Division in Abuja. The police 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.
The children of the late Ohinoyi, who numbered 73 at the time of his death, with over 200 grandchildren, are seeking the Sultan’s intervention to help resolve the protracted inheritance dispute and ensure justice is served.
The letter partly reads, “A suit was filed for Criminal trespass in Magistrate court at Life Camp. Police were ordered to carry out an investigation, and in the report, they submitted on December 6, 2023, our brother Alh. Abdulrazaq Ataba Sani Omolori(Ciroma) was indicted (Appendix 7) on forgery and criminal conspiracy. He sold the land to one CHIEF Gabriel Umeh, in the documents provided by Chief Gabriel Umeh to the police at Lifecamp division he(Ciroma) signed as a Director (Appendix 8) of the above-named company belonging to our Deceased Father in which he is not a director (Appendix 9). He also wrote the director of lands on the 16th of February 2001 to register a power of attorney in favour of chief Gabriel Umeh(Appendix 10).
“He also sold the Mabushi land in 1999 (Appendix 11, 11b) to one Kenechukwu David Ewulu, he uses all our father’s initials A. M. Sani Omolori, or Mohammed A. S. OMOLORI to unsuspecting buyers while his given name is Abdulrazaq. He held a meeting in 2017 following a letter by our eldest brother requesting him to bring the properties with him, in that meeting, he told the attendees that the only land he knew of was Mabushi but he got disinterested when a family member went for the search (Appendix 12)
“The Maitama documents show 1992, when our father was alive, and also that our father appointed him to sell; however, where our father was supposed to sign, He Ataba(Ciroma )appended his own(Appendix , 13C) same signature (Appendix 13 D) where he allegedly received payment for assignor only that it was covered by a stamp. This brings to mind serious questions, as our father mentioned the Maitama, amongst others, to some of our family members as part of his Abuja landed properties in 1996, before he passed away. It matters you know that his (Ciroma) signature in the document provided by chief Gabriel Umeh (Appendix 8) and his letter to fcda in 2001 (Appendix 10) as well as a letter he wrote to our eldest brother over his claim on one of our lands in Okene (Appendix 14) and the signature on his letter to the National assembly staff 15 July 2020 (Appendix 15) are same. The Magistrate judge Musa Ibrahim jobbo in his wisdom sent a Criminal summons for Abdulrazaq Ataba Sani Omolori(Ciroma) to appear in court on January 25; however, He transferred the case to Munira Tanko, and we haven’t heard anything since then.
“While copies of other land documents were not found in our father’s belongings, it is common knowledge that the lands after investigations are at least seven(7) in number, including the Asokoro plot upon which the Jamaican Embassy is currently constructed upon. Our father’s two Contractual Agreements are with him are also in his possession I.e our Brother the Ciroma. Shortly after our father passed away, he claimed that the Bigger one of the two contracts was for him, and he would bring documents to prove it following arguments with family members about his claim, but he failed to attend meetings. Both the one he said was for our father and the one he was to prove, the family never got to see anything. In 2016, following a letter to our eldest brother, Alh Isa Sani Omolori, who wrote to Ciroma to bring the family properties for sharing, Ciroma was said to have claimed to be holding them in trust and investing them for the family (Appendix 16).
“The posture of the FCID at Garki Area 10 following the arrest of one of our family members on Ciroma’s petition of defamation is surprising, even when two family members served as shortees, providing their letters of last promotion and letter of employment with their ID cards. After accepting this, the police made a sudden u-turn, asking for an introduction letter and saying that without it, the arrested member will not be released. Another thing that caught our attention is the fact that nothing happened to our petition on criminal grounds, and even when the Attorney General ordered the investigation, what is more shocking is their letter to the Magistrate court to retrieve the Life camp police report indicting Ciroma and their reason for retrieval: is that ‘the case was under discreet investigation’ Meanwhile, at the office, they had previously alluded to the fact that the investigation was completed and submitted in 2022.
“All of these and many more are the reasons why we bring our cry to you: that justice may prevail and that such will serve as a beacon of hope for every oppressed persons and also as proof that Nigeria is not a Nation with a price tag.”
