How my housemaid robbed me

A Lagos-based teacher, Julia Fagbuaro, has narrated in detail how she fell victim to a robbery gang that specialises in posing as domestic servants only to rob their new employers 24 hours after being hired.

PUNCH Metro had reported on September 25, 2013, that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad had arrested the gang members, John Christian, Angela Ekere, Amos Daniel and Gift Christian, shortly after robbing one Mrs. Obasi of money and jewellery worth millions of naira.

The suspects had told PUNCH Metro that they had committed the crime only once. However, after PUNCH Metro publication, two other victims showed up at SARS to narrate their ordeals in the hands of the gang.

Fagbuaro told our correspondent that John, under the guise of an agent, had brought one Grace to her (Fagbauro’s) house located in the Ejigbo area of the state. Grace was employed on August 22 2013, only to rob Fagbuaro of all her valuables, the following day.

 Fagbuaro said, “I had an agent got me a housemaid (Gift) but advised against hiring her as he had not yet ascertained all her details. I asked the girl who she was staying with and she said her brother-in-law who turned out later to be John. After the first meeting, Gift never came back.

“John introduced himself to me as Francis, claiming to be a relative of Gift, whom my agent had brought. Already, I had decided against hiring the girl but John was persistent.  He told me he could get me another housemaid and called everyday, offering his services.

“On August 19, he brought Grace to my house. After all the necessary things had been done, I hired her three days later.

“The following day, I wanted to go out but I did not want Grace to stay alone in the house. When she told me she was on her menstrual cycle, I gave her some money and told her to buy sanitary towels. I waited for a while and when Grace did not return, I locked the main door to the building but left the gate open because the cleaner was sweeping the compound.”

The victim said when she returned home around 7pm, she observed that her entire house was scattered.

She said her wardrobe as well as her husband’s had been broken into.

She said, “When I returned, I noticed the main gate was wide open. The living room was scattered, the television stand was broken. We looked up and noticed that the ceiling was broken which meant they had broken into the house through the roof.

“The door to my room was broken as well. All my jewellery was gone, including my husband’s wristwatches, two laptops, camera and other items. They even tore leaflets from our cheque books.”

Fagbuaro said she reported the matter at the Ejigbo Police Division and also informed John about the incident but he never turned up.

“It was not until I read the story in PUNCH METRO that everything was revealed,” she said.