Lagos Businesswoman Stabbed to Death by Her Security Guard Just Two Weeks After Employment

Lagos Businesswoman Stabbed to Death by Her Security Guard Just Two Weeks After Employment

The suspect, 22-year-old Tanko Abdulateef, fled to Taraba State with stolen valuables but was tracked down and arrested by police

In a tragic case that has sparked outrage across Lagos, a 50-year-old businesswoman and Bureau De Change operator, Mabel Mba Okafor, was brutally murdered in her Victoria Garden City (VGC) home by her newly employed security guard, Tanko Abdulateef. The suspect had been on the job for less than two weeks when he committed the heinous act. The incident occurred on August 17, 2016, at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the victim’s residence located at House J68B, Close 9, Victoria Garden City, Ajah, Lagos.

According to Abdulateef’s confession to the police, the fatal sequence began when Okafor returned home around 8:30 p.m. and instructed him to trim overgrown flower branches on the property. The suspect claimed that a “spirit passed through” him as she opened her door, and he attacked her with a knife he was holding to prepare his dinner. He stabbed her four times in the stomach, reportedly using both a knife and scissors he had used for gardening. As the victim lay bleeding on the floor, she called out his name repeatedly: “Abdul, Abdul.” The suspect responded by saying, “Sorry Ma,” before straightening her legs and leaving her body in the sitting room. In a chilling detail, Abdulateef admitted to switching on the air conditioner to blow directly at her body—a move he claimed was motivated by pity, but which investigators believe was a calculated attempt to slow decomposition and buy himself time to escape.

When neighbours heard Okafor’s screams and came to investigate, Abdulateef dismissed their concerns by claiming his employer was simply “afraid of cockroaches” —an explanation that temporarily satisfied the curious neighbours, who returned to their homes. The suspect then ransacked Okafor’s room, stealing three mobile phones, ₦10,000 in cash, trinkets, and several items of clothing before fleeing Lagos for his hometown in Bali, Taraba State.

READ ALSO:

• 16-year-old in police custody over alleged killing of 20-year-old in Cross River
• NANS rejects Atiku’s fuel subsidy plan, demands accountability for savings
• Lagos police deny tear-gassing pensioners as #EndBadGovernance demands CP’s sack

Okafor’s body was discovered on August 19, 2016, when concerned members of her church, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, became worried after she failed to attend scheduled meetings. An associate pastor, Jude Edeh, who had known the deceased for ten years, went to her office at Ikota Shopping Complex where staff informed him she had not been seen for two days. He then proceeded to her VGC residence with some of her staff. Upon arrival, an estate security supervisor noticed water dripping from the air conditioning panel outside. Peeping through an opening, he discovered Okafor’s body lying on the floor of the sitting room. The front door was unlocked, and the team gained entry through the kitchen.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, tasked the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Decoy Team with tracking down the fleeing suspect. The police team traced Abdulateef to Bali, Taraba State, where they spent approximately three days before successfully locating and arresting him on August 27, 2016. The Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed that the stolen items—three phones, trinkets, and the victim’s clothes—were recovered from the suspect. Badmos issued a stern warning to criminals, stating: “There is no escape route for criminals in Lagos State. Any crime committed in Lagos will be unravelled. If you commit a crime in Lagos and run to anywhere in Nigeria, the police in Lagos will come after you.”

Paraded before journalists at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, Abdulateef expressed remorse and claimed to have no rational motive for the killing. He stated: “I don’t know why I killed her. Something just came upon me… I had not yet stayed up to a month when the incident happened. She agreed to pay me N18,000 at the end of the month.” The suspect had been employed just two weeks prior through a mutual acquaintance who connected him with the victim after her previous security guard left.

Abdulateef was charged with murder at an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, which remanded him in Ikoyi Prisons pending legal advice from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP). The prosecution alleged the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, which carries a death sentence penalty. In March 2022, the case proceeded to a Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, where prosecution witness Jude Edeh testified about discovering the body. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Lagos Businesswoman Stabbed to Death by Her Security Guard Just Two Weeks After Employment