By Steve Ogwu-Chinuwa
Five years after Oriwu Central Mosque, Ikorodu was swindled to the tune of
N2.5 million, the Mosque’s Committee is still in search of justice, while the alleged culprit and mastermind of the fraud, Alhaji Shehu Uthman Tapa, walks the street a freeman and seemingly untouchable.
In its latest move to get justice, the Mosque’s Committee has written a petition dated 18th October, 2012 addressed to the Inspector General of Police.
In the petition, signed by Alhaji S. Babs Abdullahi, it was alleged that Alhaji Uthman Tapa was introduced to the Oriwu Central Mosque Committee in 2007 as a member of the Dangote Sakat Committee assigned to handle the Sakat needs of mosques in Ikorodu, Shomolu and Kosofe areas and with relevant documents to back up the claim.
In the petition it was claimed that: “at the meeting we had with Alhaji Uthman Tapa, we discussed about the ongoing developmental projects going on at the Oriwu Central Mosque which requires funding and other assistance at the construction site”
It was alleged that Uthman Tapa instructed the Mosque’s Committee to address a letter to Dangote Sakat Committee stating their needs, while he also made it known to the Committtee that six trailer loads of rice, as Sakat, had been approved for Ikorodu, the only condition being that the Committtee would have to raise money to transport the rice consignment from the warehouse to Ikorodu, which will also cover sundry handling charges. On the strength of this information and for verification purposes, a delegation of members of the Committee went with Alhaji Uthman Tapa to confirm the sakat donation with two bags taken away as samples.
To raise the required fund to transport the rice consignment the Mosque’s Committee approached Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale for a loan of N500,000 with a promise to give Mr Giwa Imale bags of rice equivalent to the sum of N500,000 collected from him.
The first loan of N500, 000 cash was given to Alhaji Uthman Tapa to transport the rice consignment to Oriwu Central Mosque. It was also alleged in the petition that Alhaji Uthman Tapa introduced other avenues to assist the committee for which he was paid sundry sums totaling N2000, 000 (Two Million Naira)
After waiting in vain for three days for the promised rice consignment for which money for its transportation expenses has been given to Alhaji Uthman Tapa, labourers waiting to offload the consignment deserted the site frustrated.
The disappointment jolted the Mosques’s Committee to convene a joint meeting that had in attendance – Alhaji Uthman Tapa(the man who claimed he was a representative of Dangote Sakat and to whom money has been given to supply trailers load of rice he promised) Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale (the man who gave the N500,000 loan to cover cost of transportation) At the emergency meeting Alhaji Utjman Tapa gave assurances that the transporter would refund the money.
In the petition, it was claimed that after: “several meetings, Alhaji Uthman Tapa presented First Inland Bank cheque issued by the transporter, Consolidated Union Stars Limited for a total sum of N6, 300,000 (six million three hundred thousand naira) for all his clients he has defaulted which we insisted to have in our name and to be Paid into our account so that we can deduct our portion of the money and handover the rest to others being owed on maturity date, January 2009. On receiving the cheque we issued a Zenith Bank cheque to Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale to offset the loan of N500,000 we collected from him”
When the First Inland Bank Cheque bounced, Alhaji Uthman Tapa still assured the Committee not to entertain fears. He asked to be given the cheque.
“But I disagreed,” stated Alhaji Babs Abdullahi in his petition, “to the release of the cheque to Alhaji Uthman Tapa till he made made us to meet the issuer of the cheque, which he never did”
Alhaji Uthman Tapa refused to turn up at all the meetings summoned since 2008. The petition claimed further that he has: “absconded and could not be traced to date.”
Early in the year 2009, Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale wrote a petition to Panti on the strength of which members of the Mosque Committee were invited and were made to write statements to the effect that the money borrowed from Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale be repaid instalmentally. “Alhaji Tapa’s wife also made statement claiming that her husband had absconded their matrimonial home.”
For the second time in 2009, members of the Mosque’s Committee were invited before the police at Zone 2 where Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale had transferred the case which was handled by IPO Gani Fatai Ayilara. “We were made to pay N90, 000 (ninety thousand naira only) and another N110,000 (one hundred and ten thousand naira only) all which totaled N200,000 (two hundred thousand naira only) to Mr Theophilus Giwa Imale.
In the petition, Oriwu Central Mosque Committee appealed to the Inspector General of Police to intervene and use his good offices to effect the arrest of Alhaji Shehu Uthman Tapa to pay back all money collected from Mosque Committee fraudulent which covers money given to him for visa applications and for the transportation of the Sakat rice.
Things have fallen badly apart at the Oriwu Central Mosque and until the riddle is resolved the Mosque remains deeply divided by the crisis and certainly the centre can no longer hold