By Damiete Braide
A Lagos-based businesswoman, Adeyinka Igbinoba, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, human rights commission, attorney general of the federation and all other relevant agencies to help her get justice over alleged brutalisation by an estate agent, Mr. Saheed Mosadoluwa.
Igbinoba, who now walks with the aid of crutches, alleged that Mosadoluwa battered her and broke her leg in his office premises at Victoria Garden City, in the Victoria Island area of Lagos State.
She told Daily Sun in her Lagos office that in mid-2021, two of her siblings were swindled of N30 million by the agent. She explained that they were to buy a parcel of land, which was later found out to be a scam.
But Mosadoluwa, who spoke with the reporter on the telephone, described the allegations as false and an attempt to batter his image. He challenged his accuser to provide any evidence that he was brutalized her or how he defrauded her.
However, he agreed that Igbinoba’s relatives purchased a piece of land, but could not complete the payment as agreed by both parties.
Igbinoba narrated: “He promised to refund the money, which he never did. After several months of waiting, my sisters took the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“We involved our parents and they called Mosadoluwa and pleaded with him to refund the money. He later fixed a meeting for November 20, 2021, at his office. My mother called me to accompany them to the meeting at Landbook Properties, Eleganza Complex, opposite VGC.
“He had placed thugs around the venue and innocently we went to his office and my mum pleaded with him to refund the N30m.
He said he would listen to us but we should first go to EFCC and withdraw the case. It led to an argument and he flared up and signalled to the thugs who came in and pounced on my brother-in-law. On seeing this, I brought out my phone to start recording, being a journalist and media professional.
“When Mosadoluwa saw me, he came after me. He wrestled and struggled with me to take my phone, which I resisted. At that point, I was making my way out of his office to an open place where people could see us. When he saw that he couldn’t take my phone, he went back to his receptionist’s desk and took a wooden carving and aimed at my head. I dodged it, but I lost my balance while he caught up with me. He kicked me and used the weapon to hit my ankle and my bones shattered instantly.
“At that point, the thugs were still inside beating my brother-in-law. I started hopping on one leg to run to where my car was parked. My driver whisked me away.
“Knowing of his action, he quickly asked my mother for her account details and transferred N15 million immediately to her to obliterate his guilt before the innocent old woman.
“The following day, my husband, who just returned from a business trip, went to Ajiwe Police Station, Ajah, to report the matter and Mosadoluwa was invited.
“When he mentioned Amen Estate, immediately I chatted the managing director, Sade Gbadamos, Redbrick Homes International Limited, developers of Amen Estate. She said she was not happy because both of us were her two best friends.
“The following day, she came to visit me at the hospital and told me to drop all charges against her friend, if I wanted to collect the N15 million balance. I was disappointed at her.
“We later found out that Mosadoluwa had filed a counter-petition against me that I was the one that brought thugs to his office. Three months passed and nothing was done about the case.
“Having waited several months for Alagbon to conclude their investigation, I wrote a petition to the Attorney-General of Lagos and Inspector-General of Police, respectively.
“My petition got to the IGP and he acted swiftly on my petition and directed the IG Monitoring Unit to take action.
“Men of the IG Monitoring unit succeeded in arresting Mosadoluwa and Sade. They were detained and later granted bail. After Sade was bailed, she has denied me access to my building and property at Amen Estate Phase 2.
“We were later invited to Force Headquarters, Abuja, where all parties were present. In the presence of the police, Sade said she needs a video of where Mosadoluwa broke my leg. On this account, Sade was detained at Abuja and later granted bail. But on getting back to Lagos, they continued their intimidation, oppression, bullying and threats to my life and that of my family.
“This is a criminal matter with glaring evidence. I’m bewildered why this matter hasn’t been charged to court. All evidence has been submitted to the IG Monitoring Unit for over one month now, after same evidence was with Force CID Alagbon for over four months. And the matter has been with police for close to six months.
“If anything happens to me and any member of my family or my staff, Sade and Mosadoluwa should be held responsible as strange and unknown people now appear in my place of residence and my offices.”
When contacted, Sade dismissed the story and said it was a lie: “I am amazed why many so-called professionals jumped on this without requesting my own side of the story. All I tried to do was to play the part of an arbitrator between the two parties.
“Mosadoluwa swore to me he didn’t do it, while Igbinoba said he did it and she has a video of him doing it. I, therefore, asked for the video, so I could confront him with it. I never got the video. The only video she has is the surgery video.
“My role became ‘threat to life and attempted murder of Adeyinka Igbinoba’. I am putting it mildly that I was shocked when I found out,” she said.
Meanwhile Mosadoluwa said there was nothing like fraud in the transaction.
“I don’t know any one of them; they went to my office to purchase a land and they bargained for N120 million. They were to deposit N70 million but they gave N30 million and the office had already paid to their agents the commission, which amounts to N1.5 million and after two weeks that they were supposed to pay the balance, they said they didn’t have the money.
“When I got to EFCC office, I was told that I gave the people fake C of O and when I looked at the petition, I saw that they mentioned one of my properties (land). I called my office to know the details, which I got from my office. I told EFCC officials that this was a pure transaction and maybe someone was giving them false information and these were weighty allegations.
“I told EFCC to investigate the matter. They told me that they had done their investigation and found out these people did not want to buy the land again but they wanted their money now.
“They gave me one month to come back. We left their office and their mother, a grandmother, called me that she needs to talk to me and she said the issue shouldn’t have gone to the police or EFCC assuming her children explained everything to her and she needs to meet me and talk to me like her son. They came to my office and I even prostrated to their mother.
“I told them that if they want to resolve the issue they should withdraw the case from EFCC and I will give them their money, she said she works in the media and I told her that will not change my position.
“Their mother begged me and prayed for me. I told her to send her account number and I paid N15 million into her account and told her that she should tell her children to go and withdraw the case and when they come back, I will pay the balance into her account.
“She was still in my office for about 45 minutes and, to my surprise, the old woman was called and said that mummy his boys have broken your daughter’s leg. They said they have the video and voice note and I now understood that they were out to tarnish my image. I even went to the hospital to visit her but was prevented from seeing her.
“They claimed that I attempted to kill her and this is a lady that, if I see her tomorrow, I won’t recognize her. They should bring the video where they claimed that I broke her leg. I swear with my life and that of my family that I did not break this woman’s leg, nor touch her neither did I defraud them,” Mosadoluwa narrated.