Abdullahi Aliu, a prosecution witness, on Friday, alleged that  the former Zonal Manager, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Lugard Edegbe, used his position to allocate land to non-existing companies. Aliu told Magistrate Elizabeth Wonni of Court 18, Wuse Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, during an evidence-in-chief led by the police prosecutor, Peter Amadi.

 The witness, a land agent, said in 2006, Edegbe’s nephew, Hope Usiosefe, brought a land document to him for sale.  He said Usiosefe told him that his uncle, Edegbe, gave him the land document as gift to sell so that he could take care of his school expenses and for upkeep.“After giving me the documents, I went to AMAC office to confirm their genuineness. The document was confirmed to be genuine.“The documents were two; one is a cross copy carrying Duruolu Nigeria Limited and the second carried Karmenla Vourla Holdings Nigeria Limited,” he said.He explained that the original allottee was Duruolu but was later changed to Karmenla Vourla.Aliu, however, said that when he was at AMAC office for the verification of the document, it was confirmed that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) companies’ registration documents of Duruolu and Karmenla Vourla were not included in AMAC file.The witness told the court that at the time, commercial land, multipurpose land, etc, were allocated in the names of companies.According to him, only landed property marked as residential were allocated in individuals’ names.“So, what we were told was that the former zonal manager used his position to allocate the land to non-existing companies,” he said.He stated further that the information available in AMAC and CAC showed that the two companies were not registered at the time. Aliu said since AMAC confirmed the land to be genuine, he decided to buy it from Usiosefe.“Not until 2009 I got a buyer for the land, one Bature Motors,” he said.He said Mr Muhammad Bature bought the land from him after proper verification and confirmation were done at AMAC office.When the certified true copy of the documents were presented to Aliu for identification, he confirmed them.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Edegbe (1st defendant) and Aisha Shettima (2nd defendant) are being charged with  criminal conspiracy, trespass and forgery by the police.A businessman, Bature, had, accused Edegbe, of appropriating his land located at Sabon Lugbe area of Abuja.Bature said he bought the land from Aliu in 2009 at the rate of N5 million.However, Edegbe, a 59-year-old man, was said to have resold the plot measuring 2.7 hectares belonging to Bature to Shettima, a public servant.NAN also reports that Usiosefe, who claimed that Edegbe trained him and his siblings in school after the death of his parents, testified against his uncle before the court.(NAN)