By Olatunbosun Obafemi
A chilling confession has rocked Nigeria’s capital, as David Moses, a security guard posted to Clear Hope Foundation Academy in Dawaki, Abuja, admitted to the brutal murder of the school’s nurse, 55-year-old Mrs. Chinyere Anaene, and a 14-month-old toddler, Nanenter Asher Yese, on July 23rd.
Moses, speaking to journalists at the Federal Capital Territory police command, blamed the horrific act on pressure from an alleged accomplice, Sunday Irimiya, who remains at large.
According to Moses, the initial plan was kidnapping for ransom. He and Sunday demanded an exorbitant ₦250 million before settling for ₦3 million, which they successfully collected from the victims’ families. The plot, however, descended into unimaginable violence. Moses recounted luring the unsuspecting nurse to a school toilet under a false pretext, where Sunday lay in wait. “He put a rope around her neck and started strangling her,” Moses stated, describing her struggle before she succumbed. Despite his initial resistance, Moses claimed Sunday insisted they also kill the toddler, arguing the nurse alone wouldn’t yield sufficient ransom. “I said no… He insisted,” Moses confessed, revealing he brought the baby to be murdered.
The betrayal continued after the killings. Moses explained that a dispute erupted over sharing the ₦3 million ransom. Sunday allegedly stabbed him, seized the money, and fled. Bleeding and fearing mob justice, Moses sought help at a nearby house, initially withholding the full truth. He insisted on police involvement, leading officers to take him to the hospital. After treatment, Moses confessed the entire gruesome sequence to investigators.
Moses claimed this was his first criminal act, pushed into it by Sunday. He emphasized the nurse’s kindness, noting she had given him ₦300 for food on the very day she was killed and had helped him previously.
The security company representative, Zachariah Fiyinfoluwa, distanced the firm from the crime but admitted significant negligence. “I don’t know anybody called Sunday,” Fiyinfoluwa stated, before conceding the company failed to properly document Moses’ employment, including losing his guarantor’s details. “For us not to keep the record, I accept that it’s our fault,” he acknowledged, though he was evasive about routine supervision of guards at the school.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, confirmed the victims were reported missing on July 23rd, the same day a ₦250 million ransom demand was made via the nurse’s phone. Crucially, Adewale revealed the perpetrators demanded and received ₦3 million after already killing the victims, pretending they were still alive.
The investigation has led to multiple arrests: the school principal, two other guards scheduled to be on duty with Moses, and the Chief Security Officer of the private security firm. The police continue their intensive search for the fugitive, Sunday Irimiya.
