A prosecution witness, Martha Okpetu, on Tuesday narrated how a member of her former church, Omotayo Apelere, defrauded her of about N33 million.
Okpetu made the allegation while testifying at the trial of Apelere before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of an Ikeja High Court in Lagos State.
She said Apelere obtained the money from herself and her husband, Jackson, on the pretext of helping them to purchase land at Ikorodu and Lekki areas of Lagos State.
The 53-year-old accused was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
She is facing a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences.
Led in evidence by the EFCC’s counsel, Mohammed Bashir, Okpetu said she came in contact with the accused in March 2007 at Radiant Church, Opebi, Lagos.
She said Apelere introduced herself as a real estate agent who could assist her in buying landed property in any part of Lagos.
Okpetu said after discussing the matter with her husband, they decided to go into the transactions with the accused.
She said: “I want to bring to the notice of the court that we trusted her (Apelere).
“She was well respected in the church and even by the pastors, there was no issue of doubt before or during the transactions.”
Okpetu said they eventually paid N800,000 to the accused for two plots of land at Igbogbo in Ikorodu and another N3 million for a plot in Lekki.
According to the witness, she also paid N500,000 to Apelere to help her secure two shops being constructed by the Lagos State Government at Tejuosho Market.
The witness said the payments were made by instalments between June and December 2007.
She said after the initial payments for the property and the shops, the accused started demanding for more money from them.
She added: “She said the money was for our taxes, processing of Certificate of Occupancy and to settle the traditional rulers.
“She also collected over N12 million from us to pay for what she called Governor’s assent for the Lekki plot.
“She was threatening us that we will forfeit the property if we do not make the payments.”
The witness said more than two years after the payments, the accused refused to give them any receipt or documents relating to the transactions.
According to her, they later confronted her, but she refused to address their concerns, which made them to report the matter to the police.
She said: “She collected a whopping sum of N33 million from us before the police arrested her.
“This is apart from other monies paid to her by our family members and friends when I travelled to the UK to deliver my first son.”
The witness said the matter was later transferred to the EFCC after Apelere failed to refund their money.
The case was adjourned to February 19 for continuation of trial.
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