Men of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a domestic worker, Sossougueto Theodore, 50, who conspired with a neighbour, Oluwasegun Olusoji, 35, to rob his Japanese employer, Yasushi Murata of N2.7 million.
The duo carried out the robbery on February 1, 2022, at the residence of the expatriate on Chris Ali Street, Abacha Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.
A statement by the Adekunle Ajisebutu, the command’s spokesperson, said the duo broke into the victim’s residence and forced him to transfer N1 million into the Zenith Bank account of Olusoji.
“After torturing and violently assaulting the victim, the robbers who were masked, armed with a gun, and an axe, made away with his ATM card after coercing him to disclose his PIN.
“A few days after the robbery, the suspects using the ATM, unlawfully and fraudulently withdrew the sum of one million, seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty naira, making a total of two million, seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty naira (N2, 729,850.00) stolen from the victim’s bank account without authorisation,” the statement read.
“The suspects feared for their arrest and in order to cover up the criminal act, threatened to kill the victim if he failed to leave the country or ever disclosed what happened to anyone.
“Unperturbed by the threat but pained by the injuries sustained, the victim after recovering from the trauma, reported the robbery through a petition to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti.
“Consequent upon the receipt of the petition, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Adegoke Fayoade, immediately assigned seasoned detectives to investigate the incident.
“Painstaking investigation led to the arrest of the perpetrators. Upon interrogation, a member of the two-man armed robbery gang, Oluwasegun Olusoji, confessed to the crime and gave a vivid account of how the operation was jointly carried out.
“Following the conclusion of investigation, the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has directed that the case should be charged to court,” it added.
The CP, however, admonished employers to always carry out a thorough background check on their domestic staff before employing them, adding that they should be wary of criminal neighbours.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
