Cameroonian cook to die by hanging for killing his employer

Lagos—Justice Adedayo Akintoye of a Lagos High Court sitting at Igbosere,
yesterday, sentenced a Cameroonian cook, Leudjou Koyemen Joel, also known
as William Smith, to death by hanging over the murder of his employer, Dayo
Enioluwa Adeleke.
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In the same High Court at Igbosere yesterday, the trial of a 22-year-old
Togolese cook, Sunday Anani, accused of killing the Chief Executive Officer of
Credit Switch Ltd., Mr. Opeyemi Gbademosi, commenced with the prosecution
calling the deceased’s wife as its first witness.
On the death sentence, the Cameroonian cook, Leudjou Koyemen Joel, was
convicted by Justice Akintoye after a trial of almost two years, following his
“Not guilty” plea to a one-count charge of murder.
The defendant, a refugee from Cameroon, murdered Adeleke on December 20,
2016, by stabbing her in the chest.
During the trial, he had testified that Adeleke mistakenly stabbed herself after
she fell while she was pursuing him with a kitchen knife.
However, in her judgment Justice Akintoye noted that “all the evidence points
to the defendant. I find merit in the prosecution’s case.”
Joel, 25, was first arraigned before Chief Magistrate Oluyemisi Adelaja of an
Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, on December 30, 2016.
Following his remand, the case was transferred to the High Court where Joel
was arraigned on January 19, 2017, on a one-count charge of murder, in
accordance with Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice told Justice
Akintoye that the defendant committed the offence on December 20 at about
9.30p.m.
He said on the morning of the incident, Joel requested for a two-week salary
advance, but Adeleke turned him down. Later that night, shortly after Adeleke
got back from work, Joel repeated his demand. Again she declined.
He got angry and stabbed Adeleke, daughter of the late Brigadier General
Adekola Alfred Adeleke, in the neck and heart. He was apprehended at the gate
of the deceased’s Park View Estate, Ikoyi, while attempting to flee.
The court heard that the victim was found lying on the floor of her living room
in a pool of blood, with a kitchen knife stuck on the left side of her chest. She
was rushed to St. Nicholas Hospital on Lagos Island, where a doctor on duty
confirmed her dead.
Adeleke was killed seven months after Joel was employed and exactly three
months after her engagement to her fiancée.
Joel, who opened his defence on November 21, 2018, denied killing Adeleke. He
spoke through a French translator.
Defence
Led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. C. Acnonye, he confirmed that before the
incident, he approached his boss twice to pay him part of his salary as his
child was very ill in Cameroon and he needed money for hospital bills.
He said the first time he asked for part payment of his salary was on
December 16, then the second time was on December 18, two days before
Adeleke was killed.
He stated that on the day of the incident, after cleaning her apartment, he
knelt down and pleaded with her to give him a loan, “but that she became
upset suddenly and started shouting and screaming at me. So I thought that it
was the situation in her office that was making her shout.”
He told Justice Akintoye that Adeleke suddenly stood up began speaking a
language he did not understand, but that from the look on her face, he knew
that she was very furious.
The defendant claimed that his employer pushed him and he fell. She started
beating him on his head, so he closed his eyes.
He said: “I perceived the smell of alcohol. When I opened my eyes, I saw her
with a knife, then I tried to run away. But she was rushing towards me.
“When I got to the entrance door, I noticed that she was no longer running after
me but kept screaming. When I turned, I saw that she had fallen, with the knife
in her chest.”
Togolese cook
The trial of a 22-year-old Togolese cook, Sunday Anani, accused of killing the
Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Ltd., Mr. Opeyemi Gbademosi, also
yesterday, commenced before a Lagos High Court, sitting in Igbosere, with the
prosecution calling the deceased’s wife as its first witness.
The deceased’s wife, Mrs Ebunoluwa Gbademosi, narrated to the court how
her husband was killed by a cook they employed three days after he got to
their house.
The defendant allegedly committed the offence on October 31, 2018, at
Preview Estate Ikoyi Lagos.
He stabbed the deceased, 67-year-old Opeyemi Gbademosi, to death with a
knife and stole his valuables including his phone.
The offence is punishable under Sections 223 and 297 of the criminal law of
Lagos State 2015.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
When the matter came up yesterday, the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP,
Ms Titilayo Shitta-Bey, informed the court that the matter was scheduled for
trial.
The witness, who was led in evidence by Shitta-Bey, said on the fateful day
she had gone to Polaris Bank at Falomo to do some transfers to Dubai and
China, and by the time she returned home she saw blood flowing from her
husband’s room.
She said while she was about leaving the bank, the deceased had angrily called
her and was asking her why the defendant was knocking at his door, and also
asked if she was back from the bank; she said no that she was on her way.
Gbademosi said the deceased later told her that he would open the door to
find out what the defendant wants.
According to her, before she left the house for the bank, she had told the
defendant that ‘Oga dey sleep’ (that her husband was still sleeping) and that he
shouldn’t wake him up but to continue with the cleaning of the house, which he
was about starting when she was leaving.
She said she had not seen her husband that morning, as they do not share the
same room. So she just told the defendant that she was going out and would
be back soon.
The witness told Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile that she got to the bank at
exactly 8:05a.m.
She said: “When I got home, I wanted to go through the kitchen door but it
was locked. I knocked several times, calling on the defendant, but he didn’t
come to open the door. I felt he must be doing something and waited by the
kitchen door for a while.
“While waiting, I got a call from my sister at Ibadan and we spoke for about six
minutes. At some point, I brought out my phone from my bag and called my
husband, then I realised that the phone was being picked, but he was not
responding.
“I called him twice more and it was the same thing. At that stage, I went
downstairs and decided to pass through the front door. When I got to the front
door, I realised that the door was left ajar.
“I entered the apartment and saw blood flowing out from my husband’s
bedroom. I couldn’t enter the bedroom because the door was slightly opened
with his his body lying on the floor.
“Because I wasn’t sure of what could be happening inside, I ran out of the
building and started screaming, calling neighbours for help. Some people came
and I told them to go up and check.”
She also told the court that she ran to the security man at the gate and asked
after the cook, but was told he said he was on an errand.