EFCC Nabs Serial Land Fraud Suspect in Kaduna

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested one Alhassan Garba over alleged involvement in multiple land racketeering cases in Kaduna.

Operatives of the Commission’s Kaduna Zonal Directorate confirmed the arrest, describing Garba as a “serial land fraudster” who has been linked to several property-related scams. Posing as an estate agent, he allegedly defrauded unsuspecting victims by selling non-existent or fraudulently acquired lands, leaving many in financial ruin.

In one instance, Garba reportedly sold a piece of land to a victim for ₦14.5 million, only for the buyer to later discover that the documents were forged and the land never belonged to him. Investigators found that the payment was made into a UBA account linked to the suspect, with ₦900,000 and ₦8.8 million traced to Garba and a company account respectively.

In another case from October 2020, Garba and his accomplices allegedly sold a plot of land in Tsaunin Kura G.R.A, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, for ₦8 million. The victim, after paying in instalments and receiving documents, later discovered that the property belonged to someone else.

Similarly, in January 2023, the Kaduna Zonal Directorate received a report that Garba and five others had duped another victim of ₦32 million by selling plots of land with fake title documents as far back as March 2018.

The EFCC further revealed that in 2022, Garba and two accomplices posed as rightful owners of a plot of land at No. 33B Yusuf Hamisu Road, T.P.O Government Area Centre Residential Layout, Mahuta, Igabi L.G.A, Kaduna State. They allegedly sold it for ₦2 million, but the buyer later discovered the property did not belong to them.

Garba had previously jumped the Commission’s administrative bail but was tracked to his hideout in Kabala Costain, Maiduguri Road, Kaduna, where he was rearrested on 12 August 2025.

According to the EFCC, he will be charged in court upon conclusion of investigations into the multiple cases linked to him.