A domestic staff, Joseph Ogbu, has landed in trouble in Lagos State for allegedly strangling his 89-year old employer, Ajoke John and also killing her 38-year old daughter, Oreoluwa John, within 24 hours he was employed.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at No. 4 Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos, on 19th June, 2019.
The staff, Ogbu, who hails from Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, was employed as a domestic staff to the victims.
Apart from brutally murdering the victims armed with a knife, he robbed the octogenarian of her Toyota Camry saloon car with Registration No. FST 104 CW, LG plasma TV, motorway handset, Gionee mobile phone, Nokia phone, i-Tel phone and power bank.
The Ikeja High Court has found Ogbu guilty of murder and armed robbery and then sentenced him to death by hanging after the defence counsel, Moses Enema, failed in his allocutus, praying the Court to have mercy on the convict as the State counsel, Olarewaju Daud, urged the Court to convict the defendant as charged
The State Counsel, Daud told the Court that the convict committed the offences at 9:30pm and having murdered them, he robbed the deceased of her car, phones and Plasma TV while armed with a knife.
The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened Sections 222 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State (2015).
The Presiding Judge, Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay, held that the prosecution had sufficiently proven the three-count charge bordering on armed robbery and murder against the convict.
Justice Nicole-Clay also held that the defendant confessed to the crime as he admitted to be living with the deceased and was the only witness of the incident.
“He killed Adejoke by strangling her and Oreoluwa by stabbing her to death. As the defence did not raise an objection to the admissibility of the confessional statement, there is no doubt that the defendant confessed to the crimes.”
“I have considered the evidence of the security guard, an Okada man, one Yahya Ibrahim, the house help and a Police Inspector.
The defendant could not explain what he was doing with all the stolen items he was found with at about 2:00am on the date he was arrested.”
“The Court is satisfied with the total evidence to establish the guilt of the defendant.
This Court has found Joseph Ogbu guilty of these heinous crimes, and you are hereby sentenced to death by hanging. May God have mercy on your soul.”
The Court consequently found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly.