Hypnotised Housemaid Gives Employer’s N5.5m Jewellery to Fraudsters in Lagos State

Mercy Odita, an 18-year-old domestic house help, has been accused of stealing her employer’s gold jewellery and other fashion accessories worth N5.5m. She has, however, claimed that she delivered the stolen items to one Peter and a yet-to-be identified elderly man, adding that she was hypnotised.

Odita, who works for Mrs. Ngozi Okeke, in a house on Road 8, Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Lagos, was said to have committed the act on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. Odita was said to have agreed to burgle her employer’s room on the advice of two strangers she met at the market the previous day. It was gathered that Okeke, whose mother was sick, left home in the afternoon of the said day after receiving a call from her brother that her mother was getting worse.

It was learnt that while she was away, Odita, who had earlier stole the key to her employer’s bedroom, gained entry and emptied Okeke’s fashion accessories bank. Some of the items she was said to have stolen included rings, necklaces and wristwatches. She was said to have delivered the items to the fraudsters at an agreed location, including the sum of N2,000 that was given to her by Okeke to buy some items for the kitchen.

After delivering the items, Odita was said to have reported herself to the Maroko Police Station. The alleged fraudsters were said to be still at large. She was arraigned on two counts bordering on theft before Mrs. A. T. Omoyele of the Lagos Magistrate’s Court, Tinubu, Lagos Island. The charges read in part,

“That you Mercy Odita, and others now at large, on February 10, 2015, at about 9am on Road 8, Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, did steal gold jewellery valued at N5,523,000, property of one Ngozi Okeke and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 285 (7) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.”

She pleaded not guilty and was admitted to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties, who must be gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The case was adjourned till March 23, 2015.

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