Jerry Useni caught in a web of forgery, fake deaths and false names in UK property case

A UK propertytribunal has handed down judgment dismissing competing claims over a Londonhouse in a case bordering on alleged fraud, forgery and false identities.The suit was filed by “Ms Tali Shani” against Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate ofNigeria.The first-tier tribunal (Property Chamber), presided over byEwan Paton, ruled that neither the applicant, “Ms Tali Shani”, nor therespondent, Ozekhome, could prove ownership of 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2.Instead, the court concluded that the real owner wasJeremiah Useni, a retired lieutenant-general who served as minister of theFederal Capital Territory (FCT) and governor of the now-defunct Bendel state inthe 1980s and 1990s.Useni, who died in France early this year, was a veryinfluential member of the Sani Abacha government and was even in contention tobe head of state following Abacha’s death in June 1998. IN THE BEGINNING...The case began with what appeared to be a routineapplication at the Land Registry in London in February 2023.Ozekhome sought to register a transfer of the propertyexecuted in his favour in August 2021 by “Mr Tali Shani”.That transfer stated that it was “not for money or anythingthat has a monetary value”. He had claimed that the transfer of theproperty by Shani was a “gift”, and “out of gratitude”, for the “many legalservices” he had rendered to him in the past.But when solicitors representing “Ms Tali Shani” lodged anobjection, insisting she was the rightful registered proprietor and “outraged”at the purported transfer, the matter escalated.Effectively, both “Mr” Tali Shani and “Ms” Tali Shani — onemale, the other female — were claiming ownership of the same property.What followed, the tribunal said, was “a quiteextraordinary” series of hearings filled with mutual accusations of forgery,conspiracy, corruption, and impersonation.FAKE IDENTITIES AND WEB OF LIESCentral to the case was the identity of “Ms Tali Shani” whonever appeared before the tribunal, despite multiple adjournments.In 2024, her lawyers said she was hospitalised and laterproduced documents claiming she had died in Nigeria.The tribunal examined those documents closely: medicalreports, a Nigerian national identity slip, a mobile phone bill, a deathcertificate, and even an obituary notice.Anakwe Marcel Obasi had testified as a witness claiming tobe a cousin of the applicant.He claimed that “late cousin (Ms Tali Shani) andthe late General Jeremiah Useni had a very long affair; an affair that Ibelieve lasted a decade” and “remained cordial and friendly” afterwards.Obasi claimed that his cousin (Ms TaliShani) had told him that she once wanted to move to the UK but changed hermind, but then “gave money to the late General Useni to assist her in thepurchase of a property in London where she was going to reside” in the “early1990s”.The witness admitted that he had not produced a singlephotograph of himself with his supposed cousin, Useni, the respondent, or evenhis purported nephew, Damola.‘PHOTOGRAPHER KILLED BY BANDITS’When pressed on this, he explained that he was “not aphotogenic person” and that he “never found it necessary” to take suchpictures.Regarding the alleged funeral rites and burial of his cousin(Ms Tali Shani), he said that there had been an official photographerpresent, but added a dramatic claim that the photographer was “killed by abandit two days after the funeral”.Ayodele Damola, who claimed to be the biological sonof Ms Tali Shani, said his mother purchased the property in 1993. Healso claimed that his mother was in a relationship with Useni in thatperiod, and that “my mother, through General Useni agreed to rent out theproperty rather than leaving the same fallow.”Damola also alleged that the transfer of the property toOzekhome was an attempt by Useni to repay “54 million Naira” which he hadborrowed from the senior lawyer for an election campaign.He told the tribunal that the general had first asked hismother to transfer the property to the respondent, but when she refused, theythen persuaded a “poor innocent man” (presumably Mr. Tali Shani) to apply for apassport and pose as the owner. A SERIES OF CONTRADICTIONS AND DISCREPANCIESWhile Obasi had claimed Ms Tali Shani was terminally ill,resided in Lagos and barely had any mobility, Damola in an affidavit, said hismother died in a road accident along Jos-Abuja road.The purported death certificate stated that she died in a“hospital,” while an affidavit sworn in Abuja on 7 October 2024 by her supposedson claimed that she had died “on 3rd October 2023 by accident along JosPlateau State and Abuja way.”Another contradiction was that on the obituary, a“thanksgiving service” was listed for Sunday, November 30, 2024, but that datedid not match the calendar. An obituary notice was created for “Ms Tali Shani”November 30, 2024 was actually a Saturday, with the Sundayfalling on December 1. This mismatch was one of the factors that led thetribunal to dismiss the obituary as a forgery.There were also discrepancies in Ms Tal

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