An Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Braide, has told a Lagos State High Court how she allegedly discovered that her Ikorodu residence had been converted into a factory after she allowed a lawyer friend to stay there temporarily.
Braide, who testified as a prosecution witness before Justice Hakeem Oshodi, alleged that the defendant, Chinwe Onuoha, forged property documents to secure a loan from the Bank of Industry without her consent.
Onuoha and others said to be at large are facing a 12-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery and uttering of false documents.
The prosecution alleged that the defendant forged a lease agreement dated February 12, 2018, and presented it to the bank to obtain a loan using Braide’s property.
Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Emmanuel Jackson, the police officer said she had maintained a close relationship with Onuoha since they met in 2011.
“I met the defendant in 2011, and we became very close friends. She was like a family member, visited my house, stayed for days, and even travelled abroad with my family,” she told the court.
Braide said their relationship deepened in 2019 when Onuoha contacted her after being detained at a police station in Ogun State following a dispute with her landlord.
According to the witness, she secured the lawyer’s release by paying for her bail and later offered her temporary accommodation at her four-bedroom house in Ikorodu.
She said the property, which had two sitting rooms, was built after she returned from a peacekeeping mission in Liberia in 2008.
“I allowed her to stay for three months so she could find another place. I introduced her to the family I bought the land from as my sister and gave them money to clean the house before she moved in,” Braide said.
She told the court that the arrangement lasted for more than a year, adding that she did not ask Onuoha to leave until 2021, when insecurity in her home state prompted her to request the property for her brother’s family.
Braide said the defendant eventually moved out, but their communication broke down.
She said she visited the property in January 2022 with her driver and some elders and was shocked to find that it had been converted into an industrial facility.
“In January 2022, after the New Year celebrations, I went to inspect the property with my driver and some elders. To my utter shock, I met about five workers and their manager, named David.
“The property had been converted into ‘Shearwater Factory’. The internal walls and partitions were knocked down, and heavy-duty industrial machines, wires, and pipes were installed inside my house, with workers living inside,” she testified.
The court heard that the alleged conversion and the disputed lease agreement formed part of the case against Onuoha.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter until November 10, 2026, for the defence to cross-examine the witness.
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