The Police in Lagos on Thursday said that a houseboy employed by a retiree was arrested 11 days after employment for allegedly burgling the bedroom of his master.
The command’s spokesman, CSP Chike Oti, confirmed the arrest in a statement, stressing that a former houseboy to the same 73-year-old Mr Alexander Okoye was also arrested as an accomplice in the crime.
Oti said that the houseboy gave the wrong name of Ben Peters to get the job, whereas, his real name is Usang Bassey Effiong, stressing that the suspect was employed on Oct. 12 and stole his master’s property 11 days later.
According to Oti, the employer petitioned the Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal on Oct. 24, complaining of how the suspect stole their valuables.
Items stolen included their Toyota Camry saloon car (2008 model), US$5,000 (about N1.7 million) cash, six packet shirts and a Motorola Android phone.
“Based on the complaint, the CP directed CSP Kemi Adedeji and team attached to the Command’s Human Rights Section to launch a manhunt for the fleeing houseboy.
“On Dec. 18, barely two months after the incident, the said Ben Peters was arrested from a hideout in Agege, Lagos and some of the stolen items recovered from him.
“Investigation so far revealed that his real name is Usang Bassey Effiong and not Ben Peters, as he made his employers to believe,” Oti said.
The spokesman said that the confession of the suspect revealed how he noted where his boss usually hid his bedroom key and he duplicated the living room key to have access to the bedroom.
“He confessed that he made up his mind to break into his boss’ bedroom on Oct. 23. And to do so undetected, he disconnected the CCTV camera that would have recorded his activities.
“He confessed that he broke into the couple’s room, stole their valuables and thereafter, drove off with their car,” the spokesman quoted the suspect as saying.
Oti said that further confession from the suspect revealed that a dismissed houseboy before his employment, one Matthew Johnson Abam, a member of his syndicate, furnished him with relevant information about the boss.
“The CP urges employers of domestic servants to be painstaking in carrying out background checks on them, to minimise situations whereby these unverified servants take advantage of them.
Both suspects are currently undergoing interrogation with a view to helping the Police to arrest their partners in crime and recover the stolen items,” he said. (NAN)
Leave a Reply