Lagos hotel staff sentenced to d€ath for k!lling employer, manager

An Ikeja High Court has sentenced Jeffrey Ehizojie, a 30-year-old h0tel worker, to d€ath by hanging for the m¥rders of his employer, Olusola Olusoga, and the h0tel manager, Tunji Omikunle, in Lagos.

Justice Oyindamola Ogala announced the judgment on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, stating that the prosecution had successfully proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Mrs. Ogala found Ehizojie guilty of physically assaulting and strangling the Managing Director of Etsahol H0tel and Suites, located at Ojodu-Berger, Lagos.

She emphasized that the crux of the prosecution’s case relied on the defendant’s confessional statement, supported by circumstantial evidence.

The court duly considered the retracted defense statement, which was admitted as evidence. In this statement, Ehizojie claimed that one of the h0tel staff, Henry, had informed him about the significant amount of money kept by the h0tel owner at home.

Mrs Ogala said: “the defendant, in his confessional statement said that Olusoga treated her workers badly so they planned to tie her and collect her money.

“Confessional statement is the best evidence to ground conviction and as held in several cases, it can be relied upon solely where voluntary.

“It is curious that the defendant who was privy to the state of affairs in the h0tel told the court that he was shocked when the police informed him of the d€ath of his boss and the manager when he was arrested at Port Harcourt.

“There is no doubt that the defendant was present at the premises of the scene of crime as confirmed by him in his evidence in chief and exhibits before the court,”

The judge carefully examined the defendant’s evidence, including his account of leaving the h0tel premises on January 25, 2019, and his questionable explanation for not returning to the h0tel or reporting the incident to the police.

She noted that the convict failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for fleeing to Port Harcourt the following day until his arrest.

Based on the overwhelming circumstantial evidence, the judge concluded that it unequivocally and convincingly pointed to the guilt of the convict.