Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile convicted Anani following his plea of guilty to a one-count charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Anani, 22, was initially charged by the Lagos State Government on two counts of murder and armed robbery.

He pleaded not guilty but when trial began, Anani entered a plea bargain agreement for a lesser charge.

He then pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with the help of his counsel, Mrs Aderenra Adeyemi, the Director of the Office Defender

He, therefore, confessed that he stabbed Chief Bademosi to death in his Ikoyi, Lagos, home, while trying to rob him.

He also confirmed that he was the person caught on closed-circuit television camera fleeing the scene of the crime.

The defendant’s initial plea of not guilty would have fetched him a death sentence by hanging, if found guilty.

Before sentencing the defendant, the court asked his counsel, if he had an allocutus – plea for leniency.

Adeyemi said: “The defendant is a young man and he is remorseful about what he has done. He is a first-time offender, there is no evidence that he committed any crime before this.

“Our humble application is to urge your lordship to grant a sentence of years certain. However, if my lordship is mindful of upholding what we have agreed in the plea bargain, we will accept the sentence therein.”

The Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Titilayo Shitta-Bey, opposed the prayer.

Shitta-Bey said: “We urge this court to grant the maximum sentence for the offence of voluntary manslaughter as charged.”

She said that there were some “special aggravating circumstances” surrounding the case, such as breach of trust.

“The defendant was employed into the home of his boss, entrusted with a high level of responsibilities as a cook.

“Barely three days after resumption of duty, the defendant cut short the life of a man that gave him a new lease of life, depriving him the privilege of enjoying life with his wife and children.

“Judicial notice must be taken of the fact that this act of violence by domestic employees against their employers is becoming rampant.

“The sentence must reflect that this conduct is unacceptable to our society; we must send the message to others of like minds.”

After, the submissions, Okikiolu-Ighile passed judgement on Anani.

The judge said: “it is annoying that a young man like this will involve himself in this kind of crime. What did he hope to achieve in life involving himself in this kind of crime, I ask?

“It is very painful that a young man, who the family of Bademosi welcomed in their home as a cook, ended up causing so much havoc and endless pain.

“It is even more painful that the defendant had no motive of working but came into the house with a criminal intention to steal, kill and to destroy.

“The defendant admitted, ‘I killed him.’ This was an innocent and unsuspecting family”.

Upholding the plea bargain and sentence agreement, the judge held: “Sunday Adefonou Anani is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.

“The term of imprisonment shall commence from today, June 25, 2019.”

The prosecution had said that the defendant committed the murder on Oct. 31, 2018, at Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

It said that the defendant stabbed the deceased, aged 67, to death with a knife, and stole his valuables, in contravention of Sections 223 and 297 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The prosecution called two witnesses, including the deceased’s wife Ebunola Bademosi, who testified as to how she found her husband in a pool of blood.

While trial was going on, the defendant through a letter dated May, 20, written through his counsel, expressed his willingness to voluntarily plead guilty to a lesser offence, which was thereafter accepted.

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Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile gave the order following Anani’s arraignment by the Lagos State Government on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery.
Before the charge was read, his counsel, the Director of the Office of the Public Defender, Adenrera Adeyemi, informed the court that Anani did not understand English language.

Adeyemi, however, applied for a French-English language interpreter.

Okikiolu-Ighile upheld her application and directed that one be provided.
The charge, prepared by the Prosecutor, Director of Public Prosecutions, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, was then read and interpreted to Anani.

The prosecutor alleged that Anani, 22, committed the offences on October 31, 2018, at the residence of the victim in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

He said that the defendant stabbed Bademosi, 67, to death with a knife and stole his valuables, including his phone.

Shitta-Bey said the offences contravened sections 223 and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Anani, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The judge remanded defendant in prison and adjourned the case until May 21 for trial.

The post Togolese cook charged with murder of Credit Switch boss faces murder charge appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

The suspect, who reportedly stabbed Opeyemi Bademosi on the chest thrice on October 31 and escaped with valuables, was tracked to Ondo where he was arrested on November 2.

The Lagos State Police Command’s spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, said the suspect was availed the services of a French speaking lawyer from the Office of the Public Defender in the course of the investigation.

He said that the journey that eventually ended the life of Bademosi, a business mogul and an Ondo State indigene, began on October 28 when he employed a 22-year-old Togolese as cook.

“On October 31, three days after assuming duty, the suspect, with the intention to rob the deceased, made his way to his boss’ bedroom through the kitchen to the lobby and then to the room, which was the scene of the crime when he observed that the woman of the house, Mrs. Ebunola Bademosi, had left home for a transaction in a neighbourhood bank,” he said.

Oti said the suspect had told the deceased that he was not there to kill him but to get money while armed with a knife.

“According to the suspect, when he got to the deceased’s room and met him on the bed, he said, ‘Chief, I am not here to kill you.’

“The deceased asked him, ‘What do you want?’ and he replied ‘money.’ The deceased said he had no money in the house. At this point, the suspect said he tied him up with a cloth and put him on the floor.

“He went further to say that the deceased, while still on the floor, kicked him, causing the knife he tucked inside his pants to fall off.

“He added that the deceased crawled to pick the knife, but he (the suspect) was faster, and that, as he struggled with him, the knife accidentally pierced the deceased.

“He said that while exiting the room, the deceased took the knife to stab him, so he kicked him and he fell down.

“He then took the knife and stabbed him twice on the chest, which added to three knife stabs.

“When he was done killing the man, he entered his bathroom and threw away his apron already stained with blood and the kitchen knife used as murder weapon.

“He, thereafter, heard a knock on the kitchen door, and, sensing it must be the deceased’s wife, he ran out of the room and exited from the sitting room door.

“He was confronted by the guard at the gate, one Nura Mamudu, who asked him where he was hurrying to and he replied that ‘madam sent me on an errand.’

“Finding himself in the street, he came across men loading cement into a truck. He assisted them and they rewarded him with a lift to Ondo State and N500.00 given to him by the truck driver in appreciation.” Oti said.

The PPRO added that investigation revealed that the deceased’s wife entered the crime scene through the sitting room after knocking several times on the kitchen door without response from the suspect.

He said that the deceased, some minutes before his death, called his wife, Ebunola Bademosi on phone, complaining that the suspect broke into his bedroom uninvited.

“The suspect broke down in tears and confessed to the act after he was confronted with evidence of the CCTV footage.

“The suspect led the investigation team to the crime scene, demonstrating and reconstructing how he carried out the crime.

“The samples recovered from the scene of the incident have been handed over to Forensic and DNA Department of Ministry of Justice for examination and analysis,” Oti added.

Oti said that the autopsy report attributed the cause of death to (a) Bilateral Haemothorax (b) Laceration of the lung and intercostal vessels and (c) Multiple sharp force trauma to the chest.

He said other suspects — Kofi Friday, Agbeko Ayenahin, Salisu Hussein and Nura Mamudu — were not linked to the crime.

“Investigation has established a prima facie case of armed robbery/murder of one Opeyemi Bademosi, male, aged 67 years, against Sunday Adefonou Anani, male, 22 years.

“It is evident that the suspect, single handed, committed the crime by stabbing Mr. Opeyemi Bademosi to death with a kitchen knife with intent to steal from him.

“To this end, the suspect will be arraigned in court, while the other suspects who are not linked to the crime will be released to reliable sureties.

“The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP Edgal Imohimi, has directed that the case file be duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution for vetting and legal advice.

“He thanked Lagosians for keeping faith with the Police and for their patience throughout the duration of the murder investigation, which took the command a record of two days to unravel and apprehend the author of the crime, Sunday Adefonou Anani.

“He enthused that criminal investigation has gone beyond the era of rule of thumb to an era of scientific and research-based investigation in Lagos State Police Command,” Oti said.

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