A worker at Green World, a drug producing firm located on Tayo Close Estate, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos has been arrested by the police for allegedly killing his Chinese boss, Alice Xu.
The incident happened around 8pm on Friday at the firm, which the 26-year-old Chinese woman also used as a residence.
It was said that the suspect, 28-year-old Okechukwu Amos, a casual worker, sneaked into Xu’s apartment while she was asleep and covered her nose with a cloth until she suffocated.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect had complained that the boss usually harassed him, and decided to “deal with her” that day.
Not done, Amos reportedly ransacked the apartment and allegedly stole about N800,000 and $2,000, which belonged to the deceased.
To evade arrest at the estate gate, which is manned by private guards and two policemen, our correspondent gathered that Amos disguised as a mentally-derailed person.
Luck, however, ran out on him.
A security guard, who spoke to PUNCH Metro on condition of anonymity, said the suspect almost escaped from the gate, but he unearthed his identity and alerted one of the policemen.
He said, “I was at the security post around 9pm that day when I saw a man half-naked. He walked towards the gate bare-footed. He was holding a pair of slippers and carrying a load wrapped with a shirt on his head.
“I initially took the man for a mad person, but after a closer look, I discovered that he is Ikechukwu (Amos). I asked him what was wrong and why he was dressed like that. He said he was angry and that he was quitting his job at the the company. I asked if the person that brought him to the company was aware, he said no.
“I volunteered to call the person, but he refused. I requested to know the content of the bag with him, he was reluctant.
“That was when I became suspicious and called a policeman, who was at the gate with me. He interrogated him and forced him to open the bag. The bag contained a lot of cash. He led the policeman to the company, where we found the woman dead.”
The guard said Amos was handed over to the police at the MAN Centre division.
When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident around 1pm on Sunday, the firm was under lock and key.
A worker at a nearby a neighbouring company, who gave his name simply as Abubakar, said the premises had been shut since Friday.
“It was when I came to work on Saturday that I learnt about the incident. I was shocked. The woman was young and usually jogged around the estate. I think it was greed that made Amos to kill the woman,” he added.
A police source said the suspect in his statement stated that he had endured frequent harassment by the woman and decided to punish her.
The source said, “He was employed recently by the woman through somebody and he worked at the supply department. He alleged that the woman had been very insulting and disrespecting to him over a period of time.
“He gained access into her apartment when she had slept and tied her up. He covered her mouth and nose and the woman died because she could not breathe properly. He said he only wanted to punish her and didn’t mean to kill her. Sums of N800,000 and $2,000 belonging to the woman were recovered from him.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.
He said, “We have the suspect in our custody and he has made confessional statement. He has been transferred to the SCIID for further investigation.”
