Court sentence domestic worker to death by hanging for killing grandma and daughter in Lagos

A domestic servant, Joseph Ogbu, was sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos State high court on Monday for the murders of his employer, Adejoke John, 89, and her daughter, Oreoluwa, at their house in the Surulere neighborhood of the city.

The verdict was delivered by Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay after she determined that the defendant had committed three charges of armed robbery and murder.

On October 22, 2019, the Lagos State Government arraigned Ogbu after his arrest.

He was accused of three counts of armed robbery and murder that the state had preferred against him.

The prosecution asserts that the offense violated Sections 222 and 297 of the Lagos State Criminal Code of 2015.

Ogbu denied the accusation leveled against him.

On June 19, 2019, Ogbu killed Adejoke by strangling her and her unborn daughter with a knife.

The elderly woman’s Toyota Camry Saloon automobile with a license plate, FST 104 CW, LG plasma TV, motorway handset, one Gionee handset, one Nokia phone, one i-Tel phone, and one power bank were also stolen by the convict.

The incident, according to the state’s Surulere district’s prosecutor, happened at No. 4 Ogunlana Drive at about 9.30 p.m.

Nicole-Clay, the trial judge, ruled that Ogbu had admitted to the crime in her ruling.

She said, “He killed one Adejoke by strangling her, and one Oreoluwa by stabbing her to death.

“I have considered the evidence of the security guard, an Okada man, one Yahya Ibrahim, the house help, and a policeman.”

According to Nicole-Clay, the defendant was the only witness to the incident and acknowledged to living with the deceased mother and daughter.

She claimed that the defendant did not object to the confessional statement’s admissibility.

“There’s no doubt that the defendant confessed to the crimes,” Nicole-Clay said.

The judge stated that the defendant was unable to explain what he was doing with all of the stolen goods that he was discovered in possession of around 2 am on the day of his arrest.

“The evidence is shown to the satisfaction of this court and the court has established guilt against the defendant. He is hereby guilty as charged,” Nicole-Clay said.

After convicting him, the judge told Ogbu, “I have to hear from you, you have been found guilty.”

In his response, the convict, who spoke in Pidgin English, said, “The mama no die for my presence. I beg for mercy.”

In his allocutus, the defence counsel, Moses Enema, told the judge, “The defendant is a first-time offender, a son to a young widow, largely dependent on this son.

“In the course of the trial, my lord, the defendant was very remorseful; it’s an indication that he is willing to turn a new leave. We do pray the court to temper justice with mercy.”

Nicole-Clay pronounced, “This court has found Joseph Ogbu guilty of these heinous crimes, you are hereby sentenced to death by hanging.”