Police arrest housemaid who masterminded robbery attack on employer

A housemaid, Mary Francis, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly conniving with her friends to rob her employer.

The Lagos state Police command spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, said on the day of the robbery, Francis intentionally left the door open in order to give the robbers easy access to the house.

“Francis, Ogana Igwe, John and Peter all planned to carry out a robbery operation in the house of her employer. On January 4, 2013, at about 7:30pm, the entrance gate was intentionally left open which gave easy entrance to the robbers.

“The two armed men ransacked madam’s apartment having tied her up with ropes. The robbers carted away a Honda Civic car, a laptop, N200,000 and $3,000 (N480,000), gold and jewellery valued at N2m, five mobile phones.

“Through investigations, we traced Igwe, the prime suspect, to Cross River State but he was later found in Ogun State where some of the stolen items such as the mobile phones and jewellery were sold,” Braide was quoted saying.

However, Francis denied conniving with the robbers, saying that her employer was not feeding her well, leading to numerous temptations around her.

She said, “I didn't know that the door was left open that day. Igwe had told me earlier that he planned to rob my boss but I refused. Even on the day they came to rob, I was begging him not to, but he said if I exposed him, he would kill me. I was also tied up along with my madam which shows you that I knew nothing about the robbery.

“I have been working with her for over two months, but most of the times, it is only garri that she feeds me with.”

On the other hand, Igwe confessed that the housemaid was the brain behind the operation. He said he only used toy guns during the robbery operation and pleaded with the police to show him mercy as he was ready to receive God into his life.

He said, “Mary (Francis) and I are both from Cross River and I knew her before coming to Lagos. One day, we met at Sagamu and she told me she wanted to steal her boss’ money and run away but I told her I had a brighter idea.