An Ebute-Meta Magistrates Court in Lagos on Tuesday said it is
yet to receive the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP)’s
advice on the murder charge filed by the police against a
househelp, Joseph Ogbu.
Magistrate O. A. Olagbende adjourned further proceedings till
October 24, or for 86 days.
She gave the long adjournment because the court will be on
vacation between August and September.
Magistrate O. A. Olagbende noted that the adjournment should
have been for another 30 days.
She, however, observed that depending on the DPP’s report, the
Lagos State Government could take over the case and transfer it to
the high court during the adjournment period.
The court remanded Ogbu, 22, in Ikoyi Prison on June 27,
following his arraignment by the police on a temporary three-count
charge of murder and stealing.
He was suspected of murdering his 89-year-old employer, Adejoke
John, and her 36-year-old daughter, Oreoluwa John, on June 19, just
two days after he was employed.
The State Criminal Investigation Department (SCIID), Yaba, Lagos
alleged that Ogbu stabbed Oreoluwa to death after she turned down
his demand for N4,000 on the second day of his employment.
He, afterwards, strangled Mrs Adejoke John.
Police counsel, O. W. Ologun said the defendant committed the
offences on June 19, at about 10pm, at his employer’s No. 4,
Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos home.
He also said the defendant stole his employer’s Toyota Camry
car, Gionee, Itel and Nokia phones, a power bank, a pair of
scissors, two cutlasses, an LG Plasma television set and a handbag
containing clothes and towels.
According to him, murder contravenes Sections 223 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, while stealing offends Section
287 of the same law.
Ogbu was not represented by a counsel.
An Investigative Police Officer (IPO), who did not identify
himself by name, also narrated how Ogbu allegedly killed the
women.
He said: “On June 18 2019, the deceased employed him as her
househelp. On the 19th – the following day – he accosted her that
he needed N4,000. The daughter of the deceased now said ‘When did
you come that you are already demanding money?’ That’s where he had
an issue with the daughter and he stabbed her several times in the
stomach following which she fell and died. The mother was inside
her room hearing them. The daughter was saying ‘Mummy! Mummy!
Joseph has killed me! Joseph has killed me!’ As she (the mother)
tried to come out, he grabbed hold of the old woman of 89 years and
strangled her to death around 9pm. He was there until around 2am.
He then took the key of the deceased’s car, opened the gate and
drove out. He had earlier removed the plasma from the wall on the
parlour and put it in the car along with other items.”
He said the defendant was caught by security men on the street
as he tried to drive off.
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Read more househelps-trial-for-killing-employer-daughter-adjourned-for-86-days/
FG Appoints Dr. Shaba as Boss of Space Development
Agency NASRDA
The Federal Government has appointed Dr. Halilu Shaba Ahmad as
the acting Director-General of the National Space Research and
Development Agency (NASRDA), following the expiration of the
two-term tenure of Professor Seidu Mohammed.
PRNigeria gathered that Dr. Shaba is one of the most senior
directors in the Space Research agency. A graduate of Geography
from Bayero University Kano with Masters Degree from Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria, he obtained and Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from the
Federal University of Technology, Minna in 2000.
He started his career as a cartographer at the National
Population Commission in 1989, before he returned to the Federal
University of Technology, Minna where he was a lecturer and Deputy
Dean. He was also Deputy Director Planning and Research at the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) before he was appointed
Director of Strategic Space Applications at the National Space
Research and Development Agency since 2009 before his current
appointment.
An expert in Geosciences and Geomatics, specializing in
Satellite Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems, Dr.
Shaba has been a Member of Nigerian Delegation to United Nations
Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS); Joint Expert
Group (JEG8) on the implementation of an integrated AU-EU Joint
Strategy under the 8th Partnership on Science, Information Society
and Space; Extended Coordinating Team of Global Monitoring of the
Environment & Africa (GMES & Africa); and Executive
Committee Member & GEO Principal for Nigeria, Group on Earth
Observation (GEO), Geneva, Switzerland.
He is also Member of Nigerian Delegation to United Nations
Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), Joint Expert
Group (JEG8) on the implementation of an integrated AU-EU Joint
Strategy under the 8th Partnership on Science, Information Society
and Space, Extended Coordinating Team of Global Monitoring of the
Environment & Africa (GMES & Africa), and Executive
Committee Member & GEO Principal for Nigeria, Group on Earth
Observation (GEO), Geneva, Switzerland.
By PRNigeria