EFCC’s invasion of Goodwill School: Proprietor demands N1.5b from woman allegedly behind action
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The proprietor of Goodwill Private School in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, Mr Sunday Omoniyi Enikuomehin has demanded N1.5 billion from one Mrs Olabisi Victoria Olaiya over allegedly instigating operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to invade his school premises.
It was gathered that Olaiya had paid for a property under mortgage from FCMB in 2023. FCMB, however, didn’t follow through with the transaction because of some procedural errors, which were brought to the attention of the bank.
Mrs Olaiya then petitioned EFCC to recover her money from FCMB. But instead of EFCC going after FCMB, they went to court and procured a forfeiture order alleging the 19-year-old property was procured through proceeds of crime.
In a petition addressed to Mrs Olaiya, Mr Enikuomehin writing through his lawyer Omolade Ebiwanno of the law firm of Benson Enikuomehin & Co, accused Olaiya of goading the EFCC officials to procure a forfeiture order through suppression of facts to annex his property situated in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The petitioner accused Mrs Olaiya of using her connections in the EFCC to orchestrate the action.
He said her action has injured his reputation, presenting him to the world as a man who bought the property through dubious means, despite the said property being acquired almost two decades, before her transaction with FCMB.
The petition reads in part, “Our brief is that sometime on the 27th day of November 2023, you hired the services of Aderonke Adekoya-Ogunjobi (Esq) to write a petition to the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) against First City Monument Bank (FCMB) whom you alleged defrauded you under false pretense by obtaining the sum of N90 million for a sale of landed property belonging to our clients. You mentioned in the said petition that the property in question belongs to Goodwill School along Shagamu Road, in Ikorodu. You narrated the transaction you had with FCMB which led to the execution of a deed of assignment between yourself and FCMB in respect of the alleged property.
“According to the petition, you alleged that the bank failed to handover the Deed of Assignment and necessary documents executed after the bank had collected money from you for about four months. You went further to say that the bank is on a mission and clear intent to cheat you and defraud you of your possessions in which the EFCC’s chairman good office is strongly against. You therefore urged the EFCC to examine the circumstances concerning this case and bring justice to play in the matter.
“It is obvious both on the surface and intent of your petition that our clients were not the ones that took N90 million from you under any false pretense and that your petition was not directed against them. In fact, you had no transaction whatsoever with our clients, let alone being defrauded by them. Your petition was stricto sensu against FCMB. For clarity of words, our clients were not involved in your alleged transaction with FCMB and no money whatsoever of alleged N90 million was ever paid to them.
“In the most bizarre twist of events and in order for you to take over our clients property by hook or crook, you procured the services of the EFCC to tag the property known and described as the U-Shaped Two Storey Building located at Aiyegbami street, Ikorodu, Lagos State as proceeds of crime and unlawful activity. You have used whatever connections you have with the EFCC to label our clients as persons who are fraudulent, shady in character and who have used proceeds of criminality to construct the U-Shaped Two Storey building. You did all these so that the federal government will take over the property from our clients and forfeit same to you. This is the height of wickedness the heart of human can conceive.”
The petitioner gave Mrs Olaiya seven days to publish an unqualified apology in three national dailies and pay the sum of N1.5 billion as damages.
