By Eric Elezuo
The homicide division of the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos Command, has declared the young Togolese who allegedly stabbed Chief Ope Bademosi to death on Wednesday wanted.
Chief Bademosi, a socialite, and Chairman of Credit Switch Technology, reportedly engaged the young man as his cook about three days ago.
According to sources, Bademosi’s murder was discovered around 8 :45 am Wednesday morning in his Onikoyi Lane, Park View Estate, where he lived.
“I got a call at exactly 8:45am that Chief Ope Bademosi has been murdered in the estate. I immediately proceeded there and saw the remains of Chief Ope Bademosi. He had been stabbed straight on the heart by the Togolese cook he brought in from Ondo State three days ago,” the source was quoted as narrating.
On further investigation, it was discovered that the cook had the keys to access the building through the kitchen, and this was not new as it has been the practice for the all workers there.
The discovery of the septugenarian’s corpse led to the invitation of the Police and the forensic experts who evacuated the corpse.
“I heard a scream from the wife, so I ran outside to their flat and saw her screaming outside with people holding her as she said that her husband had been murdered. When we got inside, we saw the man in a pool of blood with the volume of music increased to the highest level.
“Already we had called the attention of the estate police before going in and they arrived just on time. According to the wife, she said she left her husband very early this morning to do some transactions in the bank. On her way back, she called her husband and couldn’t hear what he was saying as his words were barely cohesive, and was just muttering words before the call dropped.
“She attempted to call him back but he wasn’t picking up his phone. On getting home, the security was still asleep and couldn’t even respond to her car horns till she got down from her car, to bang on the security’s window; that was when the security eventually woke up to open the gate for her. But unfortunately, on entering, she met her husband lying in a pool of his own blood and couldn’t find the cook who just resumed work on Sunday anywhere.
“That was when she screamed out for help and sent the security to help her run to see if he can still apprehend the cook. Perhaps because of fear, the security who was just employed on Sunday as well, also took to his heels upon the news that his new boss had been murdered,” a neighbour of the murdered father of four, who craved anonymity reportedly narrated.
It will be recalled that two victims have been attacked in the past in the same estate by their domestic staff, who incidentally were Togolese as well. While one Mrs. Adeleke’s daughter was not so lucky as the attack took her life, the other, Fasade, escaped. Chief Bademosi’s case happens to be the third in the series of attacks by Togolese domestic staff.
Residents were further warned to desist from hiring foreign nationals as domestic staff as a safety measure.
While urging everyone to be vigilant and safe, the Police directed that anyone with useful information that will lead to the arrest of the suspect should come forward with such.
