The Ikeja High Court on Monday, March 27, sentenced a domestic staff, Joseph Ogbu, to death by hanging for killing his 89-year-old employer, Ajoke John and her daughter, Oreoluwa John, 38, in Lagos.
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The convict, who hails from Oju Local Govt Area of Benue State, brutally murdered the victims at their residence at Number 4 Ogunlana Drive in Surulere, on June 19, 2019, 24 hours after he was employed.
Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay held that the prosecution had sufficiently proven the three-count charge bordering on armed robbery and murder against the convict.
Nicole-Clay held that the defendant confessed to the crime as he admitted to 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 2:00 a.m. 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 convict, while gesticulating, pleaded for mercy and prayed the court for mercy.
“The mama no die for my presence. I beg for mercy,” the convict said in pidgin English.
The defence counsel, Moses Enema, in his allocutus, prayed the court to have mercy on the convict.
However, the state counsel, Olarewaju Daud, urged the court to convict the defendant as charged.
Daud told the court that the convict committed the offences at 9:30 p.m. on Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos.
The prosecution submitted that the defendant killed Ms Oreoluwa by stabbing her. He said the defendant also robbed the deceased of her car, phones and Plasma TV while armed with a knife.
He also said the convict, armed with a knife, robbed the octogenarian of her Toyota Camry Saloon car with Registration No. FST 104 CW, LG plasma TV, motorway handset, Gionee handset, Nokia phone, i-Tel Phone and power bank.
The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened sections 222 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State (2015).
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