Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a domestic worker, Joseph Ogbu, for allegedly stabbing his employer, Oreoluwa John, to death in the Surulere area of the state.
Oreoluwa’s mother, Adejoke, was said to have also slumped and died due to the shock of her daughter’s murder.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Thursday that an argument ensued between Oreoluwa and Ogbu when she told him to clean the house around 9pm on Wednesday and adding that the suspect allegedly stabbed his employer to death in the heat of the argument.
After perpetrating the crime, the PPRO said the suspect packed some valuables in the house and loaded them into Oreoluwa’s car and escaped from the scene of the incident.
He added that men of the command, who were on patrol, arrested Ogbu at the Ogunlana pin-down point in Surulere while trying to escape, adding that during interrogation, the suspect confessed to committing the crime.
Elkana said, “On Thursday, June 20, 2019, around 3am, the Surulere Police Station received a distress call from No. 4 Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, that one Joseph Ogbu, 22, from the Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, who was employed as a domestic worker on June 18, 2019, murdered his employer, Oreoluwa John, 38, at the above mentioned address.
“The suspect confessed to the crime. In his statement, he averred that his employer asked him to clean the house around 9pm on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, but an argument ensued between them, which prompted him to stab her with a knife. The shock of her death made her 89-year-old mother, Adejoke John, to slump and die.
“After confirming that they (Oreoluwa and Adejoke) were dead, he moved some valuables such as electronics, handsets and household items into the employer’s Toyota Camry salon car and attempted to escape to where he could not be found before he was apprehended by policemen on patrol at the Ogunlana pin-down point.
“The vehicle and the stolen items were recovered. The crime scene was sealed off and the corpses of the two victims were taken to the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for autopsy. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Zubairu Muazu, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, to take over the investigation and charge the suspect to court.”