The murder of Dr Fumilola Adefolalu, a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State two weeks ago, was tragic enough without it being plotted by a 14-year-old girl she employed as a house girl.
The late Dr Adefolalu was also a pastor at the Voice of Mercy Church Minna. Meanwhile, her three female children have left Minna, so some church leaders were concerned that she stayed alone at her compound as somebody who used to live at the Boys’ Quarters had gone abroad.
In any case, the church leaders facilitated the employment of the 14-year-old Joy Afekafe, also a church member and an orphan. They thought this employment could help the girl also. So they called her mother and everything was settled.
But no sooner had she moved into the house that she started being rude to her employer and stealing some things too. Before long the church leaders decided Joy should leave.
A few days later, Joy led two young men said to be her classmates to the house of Dr Adefolalu at about 4.30 a.m. They killed her with knives and took along her phone and laptop, among other things.
Fortunately, Joy was arrested from where she went into hiding in the Gbagenu area in Minna. The boys called Smart and Walex are yet to be arrested.
What more could people do for God’s sake? This is because as far as being cautious is concerned, it was done in this case. Dr Adefolalu didn’t pick Joy randomly from the street as some are wont to out of pity or they trust anybody they meet.
Joy’s mother was also called and if she knew of some character flaws in her daughter she didn’t say it, apparently happy that her daughter would get a job. At least she would have food to eat, and sleep in a nice place among other privileges.
A church being involved in the employment lent the whole matter respect and brought peace of mind to it. How little do we know anybody? Because even if Joy appeared rude people may never have thought her capable of leading men to murder somebody in cold blood without qualms.
People are always employing house helpers, security or gate men and drivers they don’t know from Adam and surrender their lives to them.
Usually, it is the employers that are blamed for maltreatment, but sometimes some of these people are also not the harmless, subservient one’s people expect. Some are rude and forget their status in your house. They hate to do their work, you have to remind them and they complain!
There was one woman who liked to employ small girls and put them through secondary school, after which she would send them home and get others. She got two at a time.
Despite putting them through school, one of the girls could easily turn on her, not appreciating what she did to her, but only remembering some scolding and taking revenge on that.
However, while some people sack their house helps in no uncertain terms when they find them wanting, like stealing, some do it cleverly, not knowing what the house helps may do to them.
When one woman realised that her house girl was pregnant, she told her that she would go the next day. But in the night she gathered her children, they slept in the same room and locked the door.
“Even though she was a nice girl, I didn’t feel safe. She was not happy that I asked her to go,” she told her friend.
But her friend told her that she was even lenient as some people would not allow her to spend one more day finding out about the pregnancy.
Employing a house help requires people usually go through agents or anybody that has access to those looking for such work. As such, nothing is known about them even where some bring other people as their guarantors.
It is indeed very sad that you bring a total stranger into your house that may prove to be your undoing. And the irony is that you cannot do without these people. Therefore, apart from the usual caution, we should pray against evil since the case of Dr. Adefolalu was anything but careless in employing Joy.
