After two years of legal proceedings, a 16-year-old housemaid, Joy Afekafe, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Dr. Funmilayo Adefolalu, a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMinna).
Justice Adishetu Mohammed of Minna High Court No. 4 delivered the verdict on Wednesday, July 9, finding the teenage girl guilty of armed robbery and culpable homicide, offences punishable under Sections 221 and 298 of the Penal Code.
The tragic incident occurred on October 28, 2023, in the Gbaiko area of Minna, where Joy, alongside two accomplices now at large, attacked and killed the lecturer.
Joy, who had worked for Dr. Adefolalu since early October that year, was reportedly introduced to the household by Pastor Ojo Peters of the Voice of Mercy Church, a place both the deceased and Joy’s mother attended.
According to the court proceedings, Joy was dismissed from her job after she was caught stealing from the home.
In retaliation, she conspired with two friends, DJ Wallex and DJ Smart, to attack the lecturer. The court was told how they stabbed the lecturer multiple times and fatally struck her on the head with a wooden stool as she tried to defend herself.
They later made away with the victim’s two mobile phones, a laptop, and some foreign currency.
In her ruling, Justice Mohammed affirmed that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
She stated, “The prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Dr. Mrs. Funmilayo Sherifat Adefolalu is dead and that her death was caused by the convict with her friends, now at large, when they used knives to stab her severally and eventually hit her with a wooden stool to kill her.”
Joy’s chilling confession to the Homicide Squad of the Niger State Police Command detailed how the group carried out the gruesome act before fleeing the scene. Meanwhile, efforts to apprehend her accomplices continue as police maintain an active manhunt.
The judgment has been praised by the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Ijeoma Mike-Ajanwachukwu, who described it as a deterrent to others who might consider such heinous crimes.
