The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a
manager and a housemaid for killing their boss,
Alhaja Sikirat Eko, in Omole Phase 1, Lagos
State.
Eko was said to be running a restaurant and bar
in her compound, where she lived alone with
the maid.
According to the police authorities, the suspects
allegedly killed Eko at her home located on 5,
Babatunde Ladega Street and kept her corpse
within the premises.
The suspects were said to have continued to
run the restaurant, giving neighbours and
customers the impression that the deceased
had travelled.
The two were said to have run out of luck when
relatives of the deceased came on a visit. When
the suspects could not provide a satisfactory
answer, the matter was said to have been
reported at Area G Command, in Ogba.
A police source who preferred to remain
anonymous, told our correspondent that the
manager threw Eko into a well inside the
compound along with a generator.
The manager was said to have taken her phone
which he used in impersonating her.
“The manager was using the deceased’s phone
and assumed her identity. Sometimes, he would
send text messages with her phone, telling
people that all was well”, he said.
It was learnt that when the house was
thoroughly searched, Eko’s corpse was found in
a decomposing state.
A family friend, who preferred to remain
anonymous, said, “Mummy (Eko) has just one
child and she lives in the United Kingdom. When
she could not get her mother on the telephone,
she called relatives to help her find out what
was wrong.
“When the relatives got there, the manager told
them that she had travelled. The relatives
became suspicious because the house was left
open and the manager behaved as if he was the
owner of the house. The relatives then reported
the matter to the police.”
Our correspondent, who visited the area on
Thursday, observed that the gate of the
premises was locked.
A security guard in the area said Eko hadn’t
been seen by neighbours in over two months.
The security guard described the deceased as a
very nice but strict woman.
He said, “The last time we saw madam (Eko) was
during Sallah. When we asked the housemaid
her whereabouts, she said she had travelled to
Abuja. I became suspicious because her vehicle
was still parked outside the compound.
“It wasn’t until Saturday when policemen
stormed the area that we knew what had
happened. Policemen arrested about five of us,
thinking that we were among but fortunately,
the manager and the maid confessed.
“The incident is very sad because madam (Eko)
was a very nice person. There was one time that
my motorcycle was seized. She was the one that
urged the police to give it back to me.”
When contacted on the telephone, the
spokesperson for the state police command,
Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident to our
correspondent.
Braide said the manager was the one who
planned the killing. She added that the two
would be paraded before journalists on Friday
(today).
“The two suspects have confessed to the crime
and they will be paraded before journalists on
Friday,” she said.