Police arrest 14-year-old housemaid for killing varsity lecturer

The operatives of the Niger State Police Command have arrested Joy Afekafe, the 14-year-old housemaid of Dr Funmilola Adefolalu, a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna.

The Command’s spokesman, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, made the disclosure in a statement on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

Abiodun stated that two other suspects connected to the crime were at large, adding that efforts were ongoing to apprehend them.

He recalled that at about 10 a.m. on October 29, 2023, some friends and church members of Adefolalu visited her residence in the Gbaiko area of Minna following their inability to get her on telephone.

He noted: “Unfortunately, on getting to the house, the visitors met her lying in a pool of blood with marks of injury on her body.

“Police operatives attached to Bosso Division visited the scene and two knives with blood stains suspected to have been used to stab her by unknown person(s) were recovered from the scene.

READ ALSO: Varsity lecturer found dead in apartment

“She was taken to the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Specialist (IBB) Hospital, Minna where she was confirmed dead.”

Abiodun disclosed that during an investigation, the police arrested the deceased’s housemaid at about 9 p.m. in Minna on September 30.

The police spokesperson said during interrogation, the suspect confessed that she served as the deceased’s housemaid for about three weeks, adding that she was laid off due to her misdeed in the house.

He stated that after she was laid off, she
narrated her ordeal to her classmates called Walex and Smart and they conspired to attack the lecturer at her residence.

Abiodun revealed that the suspects went to the residence at about 4 p.m. on September 28 with a motorcycle and she surfaced at the gate, while the lecturer opened the gate for her.

The police spokesman said Walex and Smart later entered, beat the lecturer, hit her head with a stood, and stabbed her with a knife brought by Walex while Smart took another knife from the deceased’s kitchen and stabbed her severally.

Abiodun said the suspects also stole the lecturer’s phone, laptop, and the battery of a car parked in the compound and fled the scene.

Abiodun noted that the arrested housemaid would be transferred to the State Crime Investigation Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution, adding that an effort is ongoing to arrest the fleeing suspects.

The Star