Justice A.O. Musa of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has sentenced Kinsley Eselebor, a staff member of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), to 25 years’ imprisonment for land racketeering.
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The judgment was delivered on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, after the court found Eselebor guilty on all five counts brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
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The EFCC said Eselebor, who worked in the FCDA’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, defrauded a land buyer, Moses Osinachi, over two plots of land in Kubwa District Central Annex, Abuja.
The properties, identified as Plots 383 and 424, were presented as genuine, although Eselebor had no title or authority to sell them. The prosecution also established that he used forged documents to convince the complainant of the land’s authenticity.
Charges and sentence
The case was initially filed in March 2021 with three counts of obtaining money under false pretences. It was later amended to five counts: counts one to three related to obtaining money by false pretences, while counts four and five concerned the use of forged documents as genuine.
Justice Musa sentenced Eselebor to seven years’ imprisonment on each of the first three counts and two years’ imprisonment on each of the remaining two counts. The sentences will run concurrently, amounting to 25 years, and the convict was given no option of fine.
The court held that the sentences would run concurrently because all the offences arose from the same transaction.
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