For allegedly selling a bus to five different buyers, a 45-year-old auto dealer, Umoru Abu, was on Wednesday docked at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
Abu, a resident of Agege area of Lagos, is being tried for fraud and stealing.
The prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime in March 2012 at Cement Bus Stop, Dopemu, Agege.
According to him, the accused obtained N147,000 from the complainant, Mrs Sarafina Uwa, on the pretext of selling his car to her.
“The accused put `for sale’ on his Toyota Sienna bus in front of his house, the complainant went to price the car and the accused told her that the price was N750,000.
“The complainant paid N147,000 and promised to pay the balance the following day to take possession.”
Ogu said when the complainant got to the accused’s house the following day, she discovered that the car had been removed from where it was parked.
“She made some inquiries and she was told that the accused had relocated.
“When the complainant reported the case to the police station, she discovered that four other intending buyers from who the accused had collected part payment, had come to the station to report.
“The accused was later arrested after four years he disappeared,” he said.
The offences, Ogu said, contravened Sections 285 and 312 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 312 provides a 15-year imprisonment for offenders.
The accused pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
The Magistrate, Mrs T. Akanni, adjourned the case to Nov. 30 for mention.
