A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja District has sentenced a domestic worker, Joseph Ogbu to death by hanging for the murders of Oreoluwa John and her 89-year-old mother Adejoke two days after he was employed.
The domestic helper was found guilty on all three counts of an armed robbery and murder charge brought against him by the Lagos State Government, and Justice Nicole-Clay sentenced him to death.
The state had informed the judge that on June 19, 2019, the defendant killed Adejoke John by strangulation and fatally stabbed Oreoluwa.
Additionally, the prosecution told the court that the convict robbed Adejoke John of her Toyota Camry Saloon car, LG plasma TV, motorway handset, one Gionee handset, one Nokia phone, one i-Tel Phone, and a power bank while wielding a knife.
The defendant allegedly fatally stabbed Oreoluwa John at 4 Ogunlana Drive in the Surulere neighborhood of the state at 9:30 p.m., and while carrying a knife, he also allegedly robbed the deceased of her car, phones, and plasma TV.
According to Sections 222 and 297 of the Lagos State 2015 Criminal Laws, robbery and murder are crimes.
When the defendant was initially charged, he entered a not-guilty plea.
But in her judgment yesterday, 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.
