An Ikeja High Court on Monday sentenced a domestic staff, Joseph Ogbu to death by hanging for killing his employer, an 89-year-old woman Ajoke John and her daughter, Oreoluwa in Lagos.

 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 he 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 give an explanation as to what he was doing with all the stolen items he was found with as at about 2 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 convict said in pidgin English, “the mama no die for my presence. I beg for mercy,”

The defence counsel, Mr Moses Enema, in his allocution,  prayed the court to have mercy on the convict

“The defendant is a first-time offender, a son to a young widow who is largely dependent on this son.

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

The state counsel, Mr Olarewaju Daud, however, 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 Oreoluwa by stabbing her to death, and robbed the deceased of her car, phones and Plasma TV while armed with a knife.

He also said the convict, while armed with a knife, robbed the octagenarian of her Toyota Camry Saloon car, with Registration No. FST 104 CW, LG plasma TV, motorway handset, one Gionee handset, one Nokia phone, one i-Tel Phone and one power bank.

The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened the provisions of sections 222 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, (2015).

 A teenager (name withheld) on Monday told an Ikeja Sexual offences and Domestic Violence Court how one Pastor Pope Paul allegedly deflowered her and had sex with her on many occasions.

The 19-year-old survivor, who was living with the cleric,  was 15 years old when Paul, a Youth Pastor at Deeper Life Bible Church, allegedly had canal knowledge of her.

The survivor was led in evidence by the state counsel, Ms Inumidun Solarin.

According to the survivor, she knew the defendant through his wife (Lydia), who she (the survivor) spent the holiday with before she got married.

She said: “Immediately sister Lydia got married, I came to Lagos for a holiday again in 2016.

“After the holiday was over, I was to go back home (Ibadan) but she told me I should start living with her and that she had spoken with my mother.

“I was enrolled in a private school as I resumed SS1. I only go back to my parents during the holiday.

“On Feb.17, 2018, I noticed this lustful look on Mr. Pope Paul and he came to me;  he started with a rough play and then bumped into me.

“He started touching me because there was nobody around.

“He moved on to touch my breasts and used his hand to cover my mouth while he inserted his fingers into my vagina.”

The teenager said that the cleric played a Christian message and increased the volume so that no one could hear her voice.

“As he fingered my private part, blood was flowing out.”

The survivor further told the court that the defendant told her that she would die if she would tell anyone.

“One day, my mum called me while he was having sex with me. He picked the call and told her I was not at home.

“I once summoned the courage to indirectly tell his wife that I do not like the way her husband touched me, and the wife said she would talk to him.

“My mother later told me to come to Ibadan and stay with her because she wanted to undergo an operation.

“Mr. Pope Paul told me to pack all my belongings because Ij would not be coming back again,” she said.

The witness further said that the defendant came to her room at night, dragged her to the kitchen and had sexual intercourse with her.

She testified that her mother got suspicious of her when she got home and subjected her to a  pregnancy test which turned out positive.

“My mum called the pastor and he said that he was sorry and had asked God for forgiveness and knew that God had forgiven him.

“My mum told him to inform his wife about the pregnancy but he refused and later denied that he impregnated me which prompted my mother to report the case to the police and he was arrested,” the survivor said.

While being cross-examined by defence counsel, Mr. Gabriel Nbagho, the witness reiterated that the defendant inserted his finger into her private part.

She said that she did not tell anyone about it because the defendant put fear in her mind.

She said that she never had sex with any man before she began to live with the defendant’s family.

She added that she never had any male friends.

Justice Ramon Oshodi adjourned the case until May 23 for continuation of trial. 

 A Grade I Area Court in Karu, Abuja, on Monday, remanded a mason, Surajo Hamza, in a correctional centre for allegedly having illicit sex with a housewife.

The police charged Hamza, 34, of Zaman Gida, Asokoro, Abuja, with criminal trespass, adultery and causing harm.

The trial judge, Mr Umar Mayana, deferred granting the defendant bail and adjourned the case until April 4 for hearing.

Mayana ordered that the defendant be remanded in Keffi Correctional Centre, pending the completion of police’s investigation.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Edwin Ochayi, told the court that the matter was reported by a team of policemen attached to the Asokoro Police Station, Abuja.

He told the court that the defendant criminally trespassed into the shop of one Gloria Joseph, wife of Pius Gwaza of Kuruduma, Asokoro, Abuja and started having sex with her.

Ochayi said that when Gloria’s husband caught them, the defendant engaged him in a fight and in the process used a sharp object to inflict injury on him and the wife.

He said during police investigation, the defendant voluntarily confessed to committing the crime.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provision of Sections 97, 242  and 387 of the Penal Code.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty when the alleged offences were read to him.

In another development, two women, Zayya Murtala and Zuwaira Hakiru, have been brought before a Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna state, for allegedly accusing another woman, Hajara Yakubu, of being a fornicator.

The duo are standing trial on three counts of criminal conspiracy, criminal conspiracy to defame character and intimidation.

The offences run contrary to the provisions of sections 58, 371 and 376 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law.

In a direct criminal complaint filed before the court, Yakubu accused the defendants of spreading falsehood that she was in the habit of fornicating with her fiance and that he would never marry her.

She also alleged that they threatened that something was going to happen to her, given that this was the holy month of Ramadan.

When the charges were read to the defendants, they pleaded not guilty.

In his ruling, Magistrate Michael Bawa, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000 each and a surety in like sum.

Bawa adjourned the matter until March 30 for hearing.