The Secretary, Association of Private Practising Surveyors of Nigeria, Lagos State branch, Adedeji Olanrewaju, has called on the police to hunt syndicates who lurk on court premises in Lagos State and issue fake survey plans, Certificates of Occupancy, among others to unsuspecting members of the public.
PUNCH Metro had exclusively reported on March 24 that some cartels in the state issued cloned Cs-of-O, survey plans, driving licences and Tax Identification Numbers at fees far less than the original ones.
It was gathered that an original C-of-O costs around N400,000, while a survey plan goes for between N120,000 and N300,000, depending on the location of the land.
Our correspondent, who went undercover, however, reported how a cloned C-o-fO and a survey plan were obtained from a member of the syndicate, Shola, within 48 hours at the rate of N10,000 and N5,000 respectively.
In the cloned survey plan, Olanrewaju’s name and phone numbers were used by the issuer, who operated on the Ikeja court premises.
Clearing the air on the document, Olanrewaju, who is also a member of Nigerian Institution of Surveyors and Surveyors Council of Nigeria, said he had received calls from colleagues and relatives, who saw his name on the fake survey plan used in the publication.
He said, “I felt so bad when I saw the publication. Everybody was calling me even from outside the country. What I sell is my name. In its entirety, the survey plan is a fake. The title on it neither exists on my data base nor the location. The survey plan number on it referred to year 2000. As of then, I was in 500 level at the University of Lagos.
“I got my registration in 2009. Apart from that, the survey plan in question was neither signed nor sealed. Every survey plan must carry the signature of the surveyor and must be sealed. My survey plan must carry the seal given to me by Surveyors Council of Nigeria.”
The surveyor commended The PUNCH for identifying the cartel and urged the police to work with the media to curb the criminal acts by bringing their perpetrators to justice.
“You (The PUNCH) have done some investigative journalism and if you have pushed it to this end, those people involved must be apprehended. If we can lay hand on Shola from who the fake documents were procured, it will serve as a deterrent to other people in that cartel. I want to see him in person because I want to believe that they must have been using this same package for a lot of people. The police can work with The PUNCH to arrest members of the syndicate. I am ready to make myself available too.”
Olanrewaju explained further that the cartel might have got his details from any of his clients who had sought his service in the past. He then called on the public to explore proper channels in processing land and other documents.
“Every survey plan produced by registered surveyor is meant for public consumption. If you are my client, once I give an authentic one to you, whatever you do with it is none of my business. If you like, you can use it to process C-of-O, you can give it to an architect to design on it. So, it means that a survey plan is meant for public consumption, not only you as my client.
“It is unfortunate that some members of the public always look for cheap things. We surveyors have been giving reasons why they must patronise professionals. For processing of survey plans, there are three zones in Lagos State. Zone A for instance, comprises Apapa, Eti-Osa, Ikeja and Lagos Island local government areas. The minimum survey fee is N300,000.
“So, if I charge the normal fee and you think it is high and decided to go to somebody on the street, you should expect a fake survey plan. A registered surveyor must have an office and his SURCON, NIS and company registration certificates must be hung on the wall.”
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