Domestic Worker Sentenced To Death By Hanging For Killing Employer, Mother

A Lagos State High Court sitting in the Ikeja Area has sentenced to death by hanging, a domestic staff, Joseph Ogbu, for killing his employer, Oreoluwa John, and her 89-year-old mother, Adejoke, two days after he was employed.

Justice Nicole-Clay sentenced the condemned domestic staff to death after she found him guilty on a three-count charge of armed robbery and murder brought against him by the Lagos State Government.

The state had told the judge that the convict committed the offence on June 19, 2019, by killing Adejoke John by strangulation and stabbing Oreoluwa to death.

The prosecution had also informed the court that the convict, armed with a knife, robbed Adejoke John of her Toyota Camry Saloon car, her LG plasma TV, motorway handset, one Gionee handset, one Nokia phone, one i-Tel Phone, and a power bank.

The state had further claimed that the incident took place at 4 Ogunlana Drive, Surulere area of the state, at 9:30 p.m, and that the defendant killed Oreoluwa John by stabbing her to death while armed with a knife, robbed the deceased of her car, phones, and Plasma TV.

The offences of robbery and murder are contrary to Sections 222 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The convict had pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was arraigned on October 22, 2019.

But in her judgment, Justice Nicole-Clay held that Ogbu confessed to the crime.

She held, “he killed one Adejoke by strangling her to death, and one Oreoluwa by stabbing her.

“I have considered the evidence of the security guard, an okada man, one Yahya Ibrahim, the house help, and a police Inspector.

In positing that the convict admitted to living with them, and he was the only witness of the incident, the judge held that the defendant did not object to the admissibility of the confessional statement.

“There’s no doubt that the defendant confessed to the crimes. The defendant could not explain what he was doing with all the stolen items he was found with at about 2:00 a.m. on the date he was arrested.

“The evidence is shown to the satisfaction of this court, and the court has established guilt against the defendant. He is, at this moment, guilty as charged.

“You are at this moment sentenced to death by hanging. May God have mercy on your soul.”

The police prosecutor, Wole Ologun, had told the court that an argument ensued between Oreoluwa and Ogbu when she told him to clean the compound around 9 pm on the day of the incident. The suspect allegedly stabbed his employer to death in the heat of the argument.

He also stated that Ogbu packed some valuables in the house, loaded them into Oreoluwa’s car, and drove off from the scene of the incident.

The convict was later arrested by police personnel on patrol while trying to escape.

Ologun also told the court that Ogbu used a sharp object to stab Oreoluwa to death and strangled her 89-year-old mother