• How scammers swindle Abuja property buyers
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
House rent has remained a nightmare and purse drainer for Abuja residents. The rent is scathing and the payment plan is inflexible and unfriendly.
The road to acquiring a home or renting a facility in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is an Herculean task. It is littered with criminals masquerading as estate developers and property managers.
The Abuja housing market has been hijacked by a predatory cartel that exploits their desperation. Many unsuspecting property renters and buyers have inadvertently become their victims.
Abuja is witnessing a massive population explosion as terrorism, banditry and other crimes keep driving people FCT believed to be relatively safer. This has provided the perfect ecosystem for swindlers.
There are also allegations that the criminals are collaborating with some crooks in some FCT establishments to sell unapproved lands with cloned documents, making it a complex web of horror.
Fred Emmanuel, a freelance writer narrated his experience in the hands of property fraudsters: “I came to Abuja in 2015 after the current president was sworn in. I write for many platforms using pseudo-names.
“On arrival, I lived in Mpape. I actually moved in with a friend for about six months before getting my own studio apartment. But the rent kept increasing almost every year. I decided to buy land and build my own place no matter how small.
“That was how my nightmare began. A close friend whom I’ve known for decades linked me up with a supposed property expert. The guy said there was an available piece of land for sale in the Byazin, Kubwa, Abuja suburb.
“He look as someone who was the real property owner. I never knew they were all members of a cartel. The so-called expert was like one of their marketing executives who shops for buyers and gets his commission.
“The location was deep inside Byazin and impassable for small vehicles but I didn’t mind so I long as I stopped paying rent. After inspection, they showed me the documents. They looked so real.
“They kept asking me to take them to FCDA for authentication if I was in doubt. The pressure to confirm authenticity was so intense that I was convinced everything was genuine. But how wrong I was.
“I transferred N7.5 million to them. I took the fake documents home, rejoicing uncontrollably. That was in 2018.
“As I moved in with five workers to start clearing the site and start the foundation for a studio apartment, 11 hefty men sprang from nowhere to chase us away.
“What are you doing there? They barked. Who are you by the way? I was terribly shaken. I almost forgot my name. While I tried to put myself together, the next thing I heard was, ‘if you don’t disappear from here, you would be sorry for the rest of your life. Idiots’.
“That was the first and last time I set my foot on that soil. I later found out that a retired army colonel owned the place. As I dug further, I discovered three different people have also been sold the same piece of land using fake papers. It’s such a messy thing.
“I reported to the police after I reached my first contact who feigned ignorance as to how things panned out. The ‘expert’ made sure we never saw each other physically and would ignore my calls.
“Once I reached him with another line, he would end the call on hearing my voice. Through contacts, I have been able to drag him to court and the matter is still being processed till date.”
Lawrence Dati lost N9 million to fraudsters dressed as estate developers. His experience was hellish: “They said the land was in the Bwari area of Abuja. I got tired of scalding rents and decided to have my own apartment like my colleagues in the bank.
“I was transferred to Abuja in October 2014. A colleague gave me the contact of an agent in charge of an uncompleted building in Bwari. It was after the COVID-19 pandemic and households were trying to nurse the pains of the pestilence.
“I was told that a man wanted to sell off his uncompleted building as he was relocating overseas. It was offered at N9 million, agency fees included.
“I had saved up about N7 million. I got the bank to loan me the balance. I saw the papers and called a few friends to help peruse, I was assured they were okay. I then transferred the money to them and lost my peace shortly after.
“The property had earlier been sold to someone else as I later discovered. As we began the ownership tussle, the matter took a fetish dimension.
“One morning, I went there and discovered a smouldering earthen pot of animal skin as if being roasted. I saw different fetish materials at different times. At some point I began to fear. My colleague that linked me to the fake estate developer was also shocked.
“The scammer’s lines were off for months. He claimed he was involved in an accident. I wish his legs were amputated because he amputated several parts of me. We’ve been in court for years now. There has been adjournment upon adjournment. So frustrating.”
For Idowu Aminu, a pharmacist, he fell for the land scam because the so-called property expert was a cleric: “The way he preached justice and love for mankind made me think he was genuine. But he was just like other scammers. I lost N4.9 million to him. The land belonged to a church. It was obvious he sold it with falsified documents. We’re in court as I chat with you.”
The cyberspace is awash with pathetic stories of swindled property seekers. Meanwhile, FCDA urged prospective property buyers to contact relevant offices and verify documents before making payments. This is because renters have no respite from losses, as the field is not adequately regulated, making it an all-comers affair.
Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders of Nigeria, recently declared war on fraudsters and quacks operating within the real estate sub-sector. It vowed to use every legitimate means to eliminate them and restore sanity in the ecosystem.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Adeleye Jasper, said the institute was determined to deepen professionalism in the industry, insisting that the field of mortgage brokers and lenders should exclusively be for certified estate agents:
“This law that regulates the practice is good. First of all, we have to eliminate fraudsters from the industry. We are trying to put professionalism in this institution. We are trying to see that those who are fit to practice actually come into the field.”
He noted that the Act that established the real estate, mortgage brokerage business and the Institute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders makes provision for determining the standard of knowledge and skill to be attained by persons seeking to be Chartered Estate Brokers, Certified Mortgage Agents and Certified Estate Agents.
“The institute is now empowered by law to regulate the industry. It will weed out the quacks in the real estate business. The law has also mandated the institute to regulate the agents in the mortgage industry.
“To do this seamlessly, the institute planned to embark on an awareness campaign about the existence of the new law, according to him. The institute has also planned to train its agents.
“You find a lot of people practicing real estate agents are without training. With this, we will train them. We will ensure there is professionalism in it. We will have to keep them so that we can actually move this country forward.”
