An 18-year-old boy, Mubarak Akadiri, told Ondo State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Akure that he killed his mother's employer, Sidikat Adamolekun, after she caught him stealing her phone.

The teenager allegedly murdered the 63-year-old retired head teacher and stole her phone at her residence in Arigidi Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo in November. The suspect is the son of the late head teacher's housemaid.

He was thereafter arrested by operatives of the state police command and arraigned on Thursday, November 30, 2023, on a one-count charge of murder.

The police prosecutor, Simon Wada, informed the court that the defendant committed the offence on November 14, 2023, around:30 a.m. at Simiileolowa Quarters, Arigidi Akoko.

The charge read, “That you, Akadiri Mubarak ‘m’ on November 14, 2023 at about 11:30 am at Simileoluwa Quarters, Arigidi Akoko in the Ondo State Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill Madam Sidikat Adamolekun, a retired headmistress, by hitting her with a wooden stool on her head while dispossessing her of her Android Samsung phone valued at N66,000.00.”

The prosecutor said the offence committed contravened Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

During the court proceeding, Akadiri, who had no legal representation, confessed that he hit the deceased on the head with a wooden stool after she caught him stealing her phone.

“As usual, I went to the house to work and I later came back to steal her Samsung phone,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the deceased caught me after I’d stolen the phone. So, she held me. In an attempt to escape, I used a wooden stool to hit her head, but the old woman kept shouting for help. Thereafter, I hit her repeatedly on the head until she fell and died.”

The prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendant at the Olokuta Correctional Centre pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ruling, Magistrate Damilola Sekoni granted the remand application and ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Olokuta Correctional Centre, pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice and adjourned the case till March 15, 2024, for mention.