A Lagos State High Court sitting at Igbosere, has sentenced 22-year-old Togolese cook, Sunday Anani, to life imprisonment for killing the Chairman of Credit Switch Technology, Ope Bademosi.
Anani, murdered his boss on October 31, 2018 while trying to rob him and was charged to court on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery, which carry the death penalty upon conviction.
However, he entered into a plea bargain deal with the Lagos State Government and pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter.
Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile convicted and sentenced him on Tuesday.
Anani had on October 31, 2018, three days after he was employed, stabbed his boss, Bademosi, with a knife and fled with some valuables belonging to him.
The incident took place at Bademosi’s home at 3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He was however arrested by the Ondo State Police Command around 9.30am on November 2, 2018, in the Yaba area of Ondo town.
He confessed to the court that he stabbed his boss while trying to rob him and that he was the person caught on the Closed Circuit Television CCTV footage fleeing the premises after the murder.
Before delivering her judgment, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile sought to know from Anani’s counsel and the Director, Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Adenrera Adeyemi, if she had an allocutus, a plea made in criminal trials to mitigate punishment on a convicted person
Responding, she 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 plea was opposed by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, who sought for maximum punishment on the convict.
“We urge this court to grant the maximum sentence for the offence of voluntary manslaughter act as charged, because there were some special aggravating circumstances surrounding the case, such as breach of trust.
“The defendant was employed in the home of his boss, entrusted with a high level of responsibility as a cook but barely three days after resumption of duty, the defendant cut short the life of a man who gave him a new lease of life, depriving him the privilege of enjoying life with his wife and children, which the deceased was entitled to.
“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 like the defendant,” she said.
After listening to both counsel, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile delivered her judgment.
“It is annoying that a young man like this would involve himself in this kind of crime. What did he hope to achieve in life by involving himself in this kind of crime? It is very painful that a young man, whom 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, to kill and to destroy. The defendant admitted ‘I killed him.’ This was an innocent and unsuspecting family.
“Sunday Adefonou Anani is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The term of imprisonment shall commence from today (Tuesday) June 25, 2019.”
The incident took place at Bademosi’s home at 3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He was however arrested by the Ondo State Police Command around 9.30am on November 2, 2018, in the Yaba area of Ondo town.
He confessed to the court that he stabbed his boss while trying to rob him and that he was the person caught on the Closed Circuit Television CCTV footage fleeing the premises after the murder.
Before delivering her judgment, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile sought to know from Anani’s counsel and the Director, Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Adenrera Adeyemi, if she had an allocutus, a plea made in criminal trials to mitigate punishment on a convicted person
Responding, she 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 plea was opposed by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, who sought for maximum punishment on the convict.
“We urge this court to grant the maximum sentence for the offence of voluntary manslaughter act as charged, because there were some special aggravating circumstances surrounding the case, such as breach of trust.
“The defendant was employed in the home of his boss, entrusted with a high level of responsibility as a cook but barely three days after resumption of duty, the defendant cut short the life of a man who gave him a new lease of life, depriving him the privilege of enjoying life with his wife and children, which the deceased was entitled to.
“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 like the defendant,” she said.
After listening to both counsel, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile delivered her judgment.
“It is annoying that a young man like this would involve himself in this kind of crime. What did he hope to achieve in life by involving himself in this kind of crime? It is very painful that a young man, whom 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, to kill and to destroy. The defendant admitted ‘I killed him.’ This was an innocent and unsuspecting family.
“Sunday Adefonou Anani is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The term of imprisonment shall commence from today (Tuesday) June 25, 2019.”
