Househelp carts away employer’s $5,000, car 11 days after engagement

The Lagos State police command has arrested a househelp, who allegedly robbed his employers, Mr. Alexander Okoye, and his wife, Njideka Okoye, 11 days after being engaged. The suspect, simply named Peters, was employed in October 2018 by the Okoye’s.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Chike Oti, said: “On October 24, the Okoyes cried out to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal, through a written petition, complaining of how Peters, who was with them for just 11 days, stole their valuables including their Toyota Camry saloon car, 2008 model, $5,000, six packet shirts and a Motorola Android phone. 

“Based on their complaint, the CP directed CSP Kemi Adedeji and her team attached to the command’s human rights section, to launch a manhunt for the fleeing house-help. Barely two months after the incident, the said Peters was arrested from his hideout in Agege, and some of the stolen items recovered from him. Investigation revealed that his real name is Effiong and not Peters as he made his employers to believe. 

“Meanwhile, the suspect has confessed to how he committed the crime. He narrated that he discovered where Mr. Okoye usually hid his bedroom key and to gain access to it, he needed to duplicate the living room key; so he went ahead and made a copy of the living room key. 

“It was on October 23, that he made up his mind to break into the couple’s bedroom. And to do so undetected, he disconnected the CCTV camera that would have recorded his activities, picked up the bedroom key and broke into the couple’s room, stole their valuables and thereafter, drove off with their car.

“The suspect added that robbing the couple was easy for him because the house-help they dismissed before employing him, one Matthew Johnson Abam, was a member of his thieving syndicate and he had furnished him with relevant information about the couple even before he came to live with them.

“The CP therefore urges employers of domestic servants to be painstaking in carrying out background checks on them to minimise situations whereby these unverified servants take advantage of employers.”