Daniel Otera
When 47-year-old university lecturer Dr. Funmilayo Adefolalu opened her home to a teenage girl as a domestic helper, it was meant to be an act of kindness. Less than a month later, that gesture ended in horror. Dr. Adefolalu, a respected academic at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, was brutally murdered in her home—stabbed multiple times by the same girl she had tried to help.
The assailant, now identified as 16-year-old Joy Afekafe, had been dismissed just weeks earlier for alleged theft. Her anger, festering into vengeance, drove her to recruit two classmates to execute a premeditated killing. A Minna High Court last week sentenced Joy to life imprisonment after she confessed to the murder and provided details of how the crime was committed.
“This was a deeply disturbing case,” Justice Mohammed Mohammed remarked during sentencing. “The convict had a clear role in a premeditated, brutal act, and the court must reflect the severity within the bounds of the law.”
According to court records, Joy—who had only worked for Dr. Adefolalu for three weeks—plotted revenge after being sacked. On October 28, 2023, she and her accomplices returned to the Gbaiko neighborhood of Minna. When Dr. Adefolalu opened the gate, unsuspecting of danger, they attacked. She was stabbed repeatedly and struck with a wooden stool. Her attackers fled with stolen items, including her laptop, mobile phones, foreign currency, and even the car battery.
Police investigations confirmed the account. “The suspect admitted to allowing the two boys entry and described how they beat and stabbed the victim,” said police spokesperson SP Wasiu Abiodun. “The body was discovered by church members the following day.”
While the crime itself shocked the public, it also revealed a deeper, more troubling crisis—one rooted in Nigeria’s widespread, underregulated use of child domestic workers. According to the 2022 Nigeria Child Labour Survey, conducted with the National Bureau of Statistics and the International Labour Organization, more than 62.9 million children aged 5–17 live in Nigeria. Of these, over 30% are engaged in child labour, many as informal domestic workers. The vast majority are undocumented, unmonitored, and unprotected by the state.
“Children in domestic labour are particularly hard to track and protect, especially in informal or non-family settings,” the ILO report warned.
UNICEF Nigeria has raised repeated alarms about the psychological toll on child domestic workers—often victims of neglect, verbal abuse, and emotional instability. In a 2022 briefing, the agency highlighted cases of retaliatory aggression following dismissal or mistreatment. “Many girls in domestic work experience emotional breakdown and depressive symptoms, which may escalate into destructive behaviours,” a UNICEF Child Protection Officer told The Journal, speaking anonymously.
Nigeria passed the Child Rights Act (CRA) in 2003 to prohibit abuse and exploitation of minors. However, implementation remains inconsistent. As of 2023, only 25 out of 36 states have domesticated the law. Niger State, where the crime occurred, is among those that have adopted the Act—but with little evidence of robust enforcement, particularly in cases involving domestic labour. There is no formal licensing or oversight system for employing domestic workers under 18. Employment remains largely informal, relying on trust, referrals, and word-of-mouth. This leaves thousands of vulnerable children exposed to mistreatment, and households equally exposed to unvetted risks.
While the life sentence handed to Joy complies with Nigerian laws—which bar the death penalty for minors—it has reignited debate about how the justice system handles child offenders. “The Penal Code allows life imprisonment for juveniles in capital cases,” Justice Mohammed explained. “The court has fulfilled its duty within the law.”
But human rights groups disagree. They argue that such harsh sentences fail to consider the social and emotional factors driving minors into crime—especially in a country grappling with poverty, inequality, and broken child welfare systems. In a 2008 report titled Waiting for the Hangman, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Amnesty International documented cases where minors were sentenced to death or life imprisonment. They called such practices a violation of both Nigeria’s own laws and global child rights conventions.
“Life sentences for children reflect a system more interested in punishment than in rehabilitation,” LEDAP said in a 2021 campaign to abolish capital punishment for minors. Other advocacy groups, including Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), have joined calls for reform. During the 2022 World Day Against the Death Penalty, they urged Nigerian authorities to overhaul juvenile justice procedures and focus on correction and reintegration.
The murder of Dr. Adefolalu is more than a crime story—it is a tragic reflection of systemic failures: in child protection, in informal domestic employment, and in juvenile justice. Joy Afekafe’s descent from a domestic worker to a convicted murderer raises urgent questions. Could this have been prevented with better oversight? Why are underage children still being placed in unregulated domestic roles in Nigerian cities? What role does trauma, abandonment, or desperation play in shaping their responses to conflict?
Until those questions are addressed at both policy and community levels, the cycle may continue—one quiet act of kindness, one overlooked system failure, and one more life lost in a crisis we refuse to name aloud.