An Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, sentenced a Togolese cook, Sunday Adefonou Anani, to life imprisonment for the last October 31 murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Ltd, Ope Bademosi.

Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile convicted Anani following his plea of guilty to a one-count charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Anani confessed to the court that he stabbed Chief Bademosi to death in his Ikoyi, Lagos home, while trying to rob him.

He also confirmed that he was the person caught on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) fleeing the scene of the crime, after the murder.

Anani was originally arraigned on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery which could have fetched him a sentence of death by hanging on conviction, but he struck a plea bargain deal with the Lagos State Government soon after the trial commenced.

The agreement, which followed consultation with his counsel, the Director of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Mrs Aderenra Adeyemi, allowed him to admit the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Before sentencing Anani, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile asked Mrs Adeyemi if the cook, who spoke only French, had an allocutus .

Allocutus is a plea made in criminal trials in order to mitigate the sentence or punishment on a convicted person.

Thelagostimes recalls that Anani, who fled the home with some valuables belonging to his boss after committing the crime, was arrested by the Ondo State Police Command around 9.30am on November 2, 2018, in the Yaba area of Ondo town.

Delivering her judgement on tuesday,Justice Okikiolu-Ighile said, “It is annoying that a young man like this would involve himself in this kind of crime. What did he hope to achieve in life by involving himself in this kind of crime? It is very painful that a young man, whom the family of Bademosi welcomed in their home as a cook, ended up causing so much havoc and endless pain.

“It is even more painful that the defendant had no motive of working but came into the house with a criminal intention to steal, to kill and to destroy. The defendant admitted ‘I killed him.’ This was an innocent and unsuspecting family.

“Sunday Adefonou Anani is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The term of imprisonment shall commence from today (Tuesday) June 25, 2019.”