An aspirant of the Ohinoyi throne of Ebiraland in Kogi State, Mr. Ataba Sani-Omolori, is reportedly at large over allegations that he sold vast properties belonging to his late father and pocketed the proceeds.
The allegation was reported to the police by his siblings at a time when the kingmakers in Ebiraland are shopping for a replacement for the deceased Ohinoyi, Abdul Rahman Ado Ibrahim.
The multi-million naira property he allegedly sold was bought in the name of Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited by his late father.
Things took a new turn for Ataba, who was considered a frontrunner for the throne after he fled following allegations by his siblings.
The accused is a former Clerk to the National Assembly.
Known to have groomed himself as next in line for the throne held by his late father for 40 years until 1997, Ataba now finds himself on the wrong side of the law over a longstanding N7 billion property fraud allegations.
A police report indicted Ataba to have ignored invitations by the detectives to enable him clear his name.
The allegations resulted in the police investigation into the sale of the property located at Plot No. 260-Katampe Ext. District in Abuja.
Ataba’s sibling, Buhari Sani-Omolori, filed the complaint on August 10, 2023, at the Life Camp Police Division in Abuja, accusing 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 documents revealed that the accused, with the help of several individuals, including Messrs Hennes Homes Limited, HRH Igwe Gabriel Umeh, Mr Bala Khamofu, Nwegwa Uchenna, and Paul Igwe Nwagbamu, sold the property.
According to the documents, Ataba did not get the consent of directors of Kareem Mohammed Tata and Sons Nigeria Limited, which he is not a director.
The land was allegedly sold by Ataba for a fraction of its potential value and failed to distribute the proceeds to his siblings, who are the original directors of the company.
Ataba, according to the police report dated December 6, 2023, with reference number AB:4099/FCT/LC/VOL.12/75, has remained “at large” and efforts by police detectives to interview him over the fraud allegations have “proved abortive”.