• Houseboy gives gory details of how he slaughtered naval officer, girlfriend over unpaid salary
Chioma Igbokwe
A 28-year- old man, Thaddeus Jaja has given gory details of how he murdered a naval officer and his girlfriend in their home at Borokiri, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The naval officer, Lt Abubakar Yahaya Yussuf was said to have recruited him temporarily to help out with domestic chores. That relationship led to the tragic end of Yussuf and his girlfriend identified as Lorraine Onye over unpaid salary. What was left of the naval officer was later found in a bush where Jaja dumped his corpse and set it ablaze.
Families of the deceased got wind of the dastard act when Joy, a friend to the late Lorraine received a strange text message from the naval officer confessing that he killed his girlfriend over a dispute. In the text message Joy was asked to go and pick his friend’s corpse in the naval officer’s apartment. As a result, the family alerted the police.
A police source said that following a complaint on May 6, 2018, the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) was drafted in to crack the mystery behind the death of Lorraine and the exact location of the naval officer. In a matter of days, the team was able to arrest the prime suspect, Jaja in Benin, Edo State where he was about to sell off the car of the naval officer. Realizing that his game was up, he confessed to the killing of the naval officer and his girlfriend. He led the detectives to a forest near Ubina in Rivers State where the severely burnt remains of the officer was recovered and deposited at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital mortuary. Also recovered were the deceased officer’s Hyundai car and GSM phones.
How we met
Recounting how he became a murderer, Jaja said he decided to start working for Lt Yussuf with the hope that the late naval officer will change his life for good. “Sometime in 2016, I came back to Rivers State to see my mother. I was based in Abuja and I came to see my brother who was ill, and assist my mother with medical bills. A friend called me that oga (late Lt Yussuf) was looking for someone who will install his DSTV system. I offered to do it and after that, he looked around and told me to help arrange wires scattered around and put the house in order. I also helped to relocate the generator and connect it properly.
“I told him that I wanted to go back to my work in Abuja and he said that I should stay. I told him that I was preparing for a wedding and he insisted that I should stay back, that he will pay me well.
“I started serving him from 2016 and he did not pay me a single salary. He just said he will settle me. He used me to execute contracts for himself. Twice, Universal Basic Education (UBE) awarded him contracts and because he did not want his colleagues to know that he was involved, I will be the one who will sign all the documents. I have all the details in my phone.
“During my wedding, I begged him to give me N400, 000 in December, 2017. After so many attempts to make him help, he eventually gave me N90, 000 during my traditional wedding and promised to bring the balance.”
Built up anger
According to Jaja, he managed to fund his wedding with the help of friends and relation. “I was bitter because oga refused to help me as he promised after so many months of serving him. Each time that I asked for money, he will claim to be broke. I became sad and restless when I got to the house and his girlfriend, Lorraine told me that he gave her N350, 000 to rent a house.
I immediately went and told him that I needed money to put my house in order, he asked me to leave him alone as he was broke. His excuse was that government was yet to pay him for the contracts. He forgot that I have contact with those people and they told me when payments were made. As if that was not enough, Lorraine showed me her house key and documents to show that they were planning to travel to Canada.
I was heartbroken and decided not to go there again. I was doing well on my own. He called me one day to help him out and I told him that I was busy. The next day, I decided to go and honour that invitation with the hope that he has changed. He told me that he has given the work to another person. On my way out, one of his colleagues who knows my worth asked me to come to his quarters to repair his DSTV. I was busy doing that when oga saw me and begged that I should service his generator. I did as he pleaded and also told him that his generator was going bad and should be changed. After spending time and energy, he gave me N1000 and walked out as if nothing has happened.”
At this point, Jaja, who was already emotional, broke down in tears. He lamented that he could not imagine why Lt Yussuf who he had dedicated more than a year of his service to will treat him so badly. “I collected the N1000 and left. He called back an hour later complaining that his generator was unstable and could hardly power his house. I went back and removed the oil and replaced it with a new one and the generator started working again. I asked for my transport fare and he simply waved at me and said that he paid me yesterday. I was shocked and kept wondering where I have wronged him.”
Killer mood
Still angry and bitter, Jaja got home and the two dogs in their compound were barking. “Those dogs love barking and making noise at night. I was so angry that I decided to kill them if that is the only way I can feel better. I ran to the market and bought a sleeping tablet known as Talen. I was about to poison their food when my wife warned me not to cause problem in the compound. I then decided to take it to oga’s house and use it on him. My initial plan was to make him sleep and use that opportunity to rob him. Luckily, when I got there on May 1, his girlfriend was not around and he asked me to prepare Indomie noodles for him. I sprinkled the sleeping tablet on his food and drinks and it did nothing to him.
The next day, I came again and started teasing Lorraine to give me oga’s ATM password. She asked if there was any reason why I was looking for it and I simply told her that I wanted to know if oga loves her so much. She then told me 3477 and that I should check his identity card, that it is his service code number.
She started showing me all the good things that oga bought for her including a new phone. I was so bitter and felt that she was the reason why oga had not paid me. She was tying a towel and was heading to the bathroom when I asked her to show me her new hair style. Immediately she turned her neck, I used the nearest rope within reach and strangled her. I actually used the Navy shoulder cord that I saw on the floor to strangle her. She became unconscious and foam was coming out of her mouth. I dragged her to the palour, stabbed her severally and placed her under the couch in the palour. I knew that it will be hard for oga to notice.
I started thinking of how best to dispose the body before it starts decaying. I knew the only way out was to also kill oga. The next day being May 3, I went back to his house and waited for him to return. He came back and told me that he was traveling the next day to Lagos State. He asked me about his girl and I said that I do not know her whereabouts. He was worried because her phone lines were switched off.”
In order to make sure that Lt Yussuf will not ask him to go home, Jaja pleaded that he wanted to play TV game. “Oga who also likes playing video games decided to stay in the palour and watch. I knew that he will sleep off after a long day at work. Later in the night, I used the cutlass that he bought from the market that day to hit his head, he got up but could not shout. I used a pillow to cover his face and stabbed him until he died. I tied him up and put him inside a travelling box. To reduce suspicion, I wore his uniform and took the box downstairs. I took his car and parked it at the entrance of the house and carried him inside the car and cleaned the staircase. This was around 5 in the morning.”
Imperfect crime
In an attempt to create a perfect crime, Jaja sent a message with the late Lt Yussuf’s phone after disposing of his corpse.
“I drove to Atani village in Rivers State. I got to a lonely bush and set the box with oga on fire. I added his car spare tyre to help the fire to burn very well. I couldn’t carry the girl because she is very heavy. I immediately drove to Benin that day and to Lagos the next day.
While in Lagos, I decided to send a text message with oga’s phone because I knew that police will trace the call. I bought a new SIM and sent a text to Lorraine’s friend. The content of the text was that she should go and carry the corpse of her friend before it will decay. That I caught her friend with another man and in the cause of our argument I stabbed her in self-defence.
I was hoping that after reading the text, they will assume that oga is on the run after killing his girlfriend. Meanwhile before I left, I took all the money in the house including his ATM card. I was lucky that the ATM password that Lorraine gave me was correct. I was able to withdraw N900, 000 from his account. Now buoyant, I took the next flight back to Rivers State and bought lot of things for my family. I told my wife that I was into oil bunkering and she believed me. Days later, I travelled to Benin to try and sell his car. I tried severally and failed till I got a buyer who agreed to buy it at N2.5million. At a point my conscience started disturbing me to return the car to the owners. It was in the process of negotiating to return the car that police tracked and arrested me.”
Forgive for the sake of my unborn child
Insisting that he was under a spell, Jaja begged the family of the deceased to forgive him for the sake of his unborn child. “I am a born again Christian. It was when the police caught me that the scale fell off my eyes. I can’t believe I was so heartless to have killed two persons. I was very angry because oga preferred to lavish money on his girlfriend than to pay me for my service. Please they should forgive me. I know that I have committed a terrible crime but do not allow my child to grow without a father.”