Two Hotel Staff Jailed Over Customer’s Death

A Lagos high court sitting in Ikeja, yesterday, sentenced two men, Marvelous Chibueze and David Oladimeji, to 25 years imprisonment each for the murder of one Peter Madueke, who was stabbed on the neck with a broken bottle.

Trial judge, Justice Kudirat Jose, found the two men guilty of the two-count charge of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder preferred against them.

The incident happened on January 27, 2015, at a hotel in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos State.

In his evidence before the court, Marvelous recounted that the deceased came to the hotel, where he worked as a bartender, to purchase some items.

He said: “He requested for a stick of cigarette, which cost N50, and gave me N500. I told him that there was no change and suggested that he should buy a bottle of beer, which he obliged.

“I was dozing where I sat when the deceased roughly pushed me and demanded for his change. I told him to be patient. He followed me to the DJ’s booth, where I had gone to change the music and shoved me angrily.

“We started fighting and my supervisor came downstairs to intervene. The deceased even broke one of the fans in the hotel. “

That was when David and his friends— Friday and Waliu— came and challenged him. It was Waliu that broke a bottle. I did not see when the deceased was stabbed.

“It was later that my supervisor told me that the deceased had been stabbed and that we should rush him to the hospital.

“We rushed him to a hospital, where they refused to treat him. He sadly died in front of the hospital.”

David, the second convict, said he was eating noodles, when he heard of the fight

. He said: “When I got there, the deceased was holding a big bamboo. We started struggling with him. “Friday, who is now at large, stabbed the deceased with a broken bottle.”