Too many holes in this story: I killed my boss three days after employment - Togolese Cook

Juliana Francis

The Togolese cook, Mr. Sunday Adefonou Anani, 22, has revealed in chilling details how he murdered his boss, Chief Opeyemi Bademosi, 67, at his No.3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi,  Lagos State.

The fact of the case and Anani’s confession was made available to journalists by the Lagos State Police Command, through its spokesman, Chike Oti.

Anani reportedly claimed that it was not his intention to kill Bademosi, but had to stab him to thrice, when the man allegedly tried to wrest the knife from him.

The suspect further claimed that he only wanted to steal some money from the deceased, but the well thought out robbery operation went awry after Bademosi attempted to attack and snatch the knife from him.  Bademosi was killed on October 31, 2018 at about 8:10am.

Oti explained that Anani was availed the services of a French speaking lawyer from the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), who was with him throughout the duration of this investigation.

According to Oti, Bademosi, a business mogul and an Ondo State indigene’s journey to the grave, began in Ondo town, in his home town on October, 25, when Kofi Friday, 27, returned from Togo to Nigeria and called his countrymen including, Anani, to his house at Yaba area in Ondo town to deliver messages from home.

When Anani came to receive his own message, Friday, who happened to be his cousin, told him that he had secured a job as chef for him in a rich man’s home at Ikoyi, Lagos. Friday further told him that he secured the job through Agbeko Ayenahin, a friend of his.

Oti narrated: “Anani was subsequently taken to the deceased’s house in Ondo State on October 26, 2018. It’s important to mention that Bademosi usually goes to his home town every last weekend of the month. Thus on that fateful October 28, 2018, Bademosi brought Anani to Lagos to start work as his cook.” 

Three days after Anani started work, precisely on October 31, he allegedly went, with the intention to rob the deceased, to Bademosi’s room.

“Anani went through the kitchen, to the lobby and then to the room which was the scene of crime. He made his move after he noticed that the woman of the house, Mrs Ebunola Bademosi, has left home for a transaction in a neighbourhood bank called Polaris Bank, Falomo branch,” said Oti. 

According to the suspect, when he got to Bademosi’s room, he saw the victim in bed.

He reportedly told Bademosi, “Chief, I’m not here to kill you.”  The deceased asked him, "What do you want?" Anani told replied "money!"

Bademosi told Anani that he didn’t have money in the house. At this point, Anani disclosed that he tied Bademosi up with a cloth and placed him on the floor.

He claimed that while Bademosi was still on the floor, he suddenly kicked him, causing the knife, which he had tucked inside his pants to fall off.

Anani added that the deceased crawled to pick the knife, but he was faster. He further said that they both struggled with the knife, but in the process the allegedly knife pierced Bademosi.

Anani said that just as he was about to leave the room, Bademosi grabbed the knife to stab him, thus he kicked Bademosi until he fell. He then took the knife and stabbed the deceased twice on the chest, making the stabs three.

Oti said: “When Anani was done with killing Bademosi, he entered his bathroom, threw away his apron, which was already bloodstained and the kitchen knife. He thereafter heard a knock on the kitchen door, sensing it must be the deceased’s wife; he ran out of the room and exited the sitting-room door.  He was confronted by the guard, Nura Mamudu, at the gate. Nura asked him where he was hurrying to, and he replied, ‘madam sent me on an errand.’ Finding himself in the street, he came across men loading cement into a Dangote truck. He assisted them and they rewarded him with a lift to Ondo State. The sum of N500.00 was given to him by the truck driver in appreciation.”

It was further discovered that Bademosi was able to call his wife, complaining that Anani barged into his bedroom, uninvited.

The deceased's wife entered the crime scene through the sitting room after knocking several times on the kitchen door without response from the suspect. Ebunola found her husband in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed on the chest. The woman later reported the incident to the police.  

While fleeing the crime scene, Anani stole Bademosi’s Samsung phone and fled to Ondo State where he was later arrested on November, 2.  The stolen Samsung phone was recovered from the suspect upon his arrest and the kitchen knife recovered in Bademosi’s toilet. His apron, which he had hastily discarded as he fled, was recovered at the scene, soaked in blood.

Oti revealed: “The suspect broke down in tears and confessed to the act after he was confronted with evidence of the CCTV footage. He led the investigation team to the crime scene demonstrating/reconstructing how he carried out the crime. Samples recovered from the scene of the incident have been handed over to Forensic and DNA Department of Ministry of Justice for examination and analysis. The autopsy report attributed the cause of death to (a) Bilateral Haemothorax (b) Laceration of the lung and intercostal vessels and (c) Multiple sharp force trauma to the chest. Kofi Friday, Agbeko Ayenahin, Salisu Hussein and Nura Mamudu are not linked to the crime. 

“In conclusion t, investigation has established a prima facie case of armed robbery/murder against Anani. It is evident that the suspect single handedly committed the crime by stabbing Bademosi to death with a kitchen knife with intent to steal from him. To this end, the suspect will be arraigned in court while the other suspects who are not linked to the crime will be released to reliable sureties. 

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP Edgal Imohimi, has directed that the case file be duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for vetting and legal advice.