From subtle pilfering to coordinated robberies, a silent epidemic is unfolding inside homes across the country. Families are discovering, often too late, that the very people they rely on for daily comfort and convenience: cooks, housekeepers, nannies, gatemen, electricians and plumbers, most times quietly lay the groundwork for criminal attacks.
This piece examines chilling accounts from victims, insights from security experts, and the loopholes that enable domestic insiders to wreak havoc on households that unknowingly hand them the keys to their safety:
As a retiree and grandfather, Pa Lanre Olayinka needed someone trustworthy to help manage his family home in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
To find reliable domestic help, the 72-year-old sought the assistance of a family friend, who soon introduced him to Mrs Esther Abiodun, popularly known as Iya Ibeji.
At first, Abiodun quickly won the hearts and trust of the elderly couple. In her late 40s, she came to the house about four times a week, handling domestic chores and running errands for the family. Her salary was regularly paid by one of the children living in another city, and whenever the other children visited, they would shower her with gifts and money, praising her diligence and dedication.
However, about a year into her employment, things began to change.
“It was my wife who first noticed that some items were missing. Raw foodstuffs like garri, rice, and beans were disappearing faster than usual. Then products like detergents, bars of soap, deodorants, and even our grandchildren’s toys began to vanish.
“I didn’t pay much attention at first. Sometimes things get misplaced, and we trusted her; she even ate with us and occasionally brought one of her children along to help,” Pa Lanre told Sunday PUNCH.
The illusion of a cheerful, trustworthy home help was shattered one Saturday evening when the couple returned from a wedding party to discover several electronic gadgets missing.
“Our electric power regulator, pressing iron, blender, and rechargeable fan were gone. Before leaving, we told Iya Ibeji she could leave for the day and asked her to drop the key in the usual spot outside.
“But we later heard from someone nearby that her son had visited the house and they left together carrying heavy bags. This wasn’t the first time he had come over, so the witness didn’t think anything was wrong.
“When we confronted Iya Ibeji, she admitted her son had visited but denied taking anything. People advised us to have them arrested for theft, but we just wanted them out of our lives. We fired her immediately.
“It was God who saved us. What if she had collaborated with someone to rob and even harm us? Similar things have happened to couples our age, and no one would ever know. It’s been over a year since she left, and we are doing well. A greedy home help can be extremely dangerous,” the septuagenarian said.
This encounter with a domestic helper like Mrs Abiodun adds to a rising number of unskilled workers in Nigeria turning to theft, with numerous cases of high-value items, cash, gold and vehicles being stolen from employers.
Unskilled workers in Nigeria, including artisans like electricians and tailors, domestic helpers, and others learning through apprenticeships, are a vital part of the economy.
Forming a large informal workforce, artisans such as electricians, plumbers, tailors, welders, and carpenters are skilled craftspeople who make objects by hand.
Many domestic helpers and artisans meet new clients through word-of-mouth referrals, personal connections from friends or family, and community networks.
In urban areas, domestic helpers and artisans can contact clients through agencies. Other methods include advertising vacancies on street walls and social media groups.
Last year, a new mobile application was launched in Lagos to connect certified artisans with customers, providing an online platform for hiring them.
However, the trend of domestic helpers and artisans overlooking their work and transforming into robbers has placed an additional burden on employment agents and patrons who hire them.
In April 2024, a Lagos-based fashion designer, Sylvester Odili, received a call from a friend who referred his nephew, Solomon Inemesit (not his real name), as an apprentice.
“His uncle wanted me to train him, and I readily accepted because I was told he already had rudimentary knowledge and experience as a fashion designer. I accommodated him with my other apprentices and provided food and other needs for him.
“After a few weeks, I realised that he was quite unruly. He is still in his early 20s, but he comes off as rude to me. Because of this, I gave him certain boundaries because I realised he needed some discipline, but I still trained him, and my clients grew to like him.
“After three months, he came to the shop and told me he wanted to leave and return to Ibadan. I was alarmed. I asked if I had done anything wrong, or maybe he was ill or something, you know, the usual questions you ask if someone suddenly changes. He said he was tired of working with me,” Odili recounted.
He claimed that Inemesit’s decision to leave his fashion outlet was well-timed because, at the time, he was struggling to retain his staff and had much work to deal with.
“I pleaded with him to stay, but he was adamant, so I offered him some money as his transport fare. He looked at the money with disgust and walked out of the shop. Later, he came back and said he wasn’t leaving again.
“I talked with him like a younger friend, and he appeared to be sober. He took his bag back inside the house. At that time, I needed to purchase some sewing materials in the market, so I asked him to attend to any customers until I returned. That was my biggest mistake.”
Odili explained that when he returned, he found that his work tools had been burgled and accused Inemesit of also stealing some of his money.
“This guy stole some customers’ fabrics worth thousands of naira and took away my work tools, which are quite expensive to replace. He closed the shop doors and left with his bag. It was as if I was dreaming when I returned from the market.
“I called his uncle and reported him and promised to report him to the police station. His uncle dissuaded me from it, saying he had ordered his nephew to return all that he stole, but up until now, he has not returned them to me. It’s a long story, but since then, I don’t trust any apprentice the same way. It was a painful ordeal,” Odili said in a sad tone.
When reached out to, Inemesit admitted that he stole from his former boss but rationalised it with the excuse that he was shortchanged.
“When my uncle brought me to him, he promised to pay me N25,000. For the three months that I was living there in the accommodation he provided, he didn’t give me a dime. Though he was giving us food, he didn’t pay me.
“He was always monitoring my movements and talking to me anyhow. There was a day at the market when he told me that I had mouth odour. He said it publicly, and I felt embarrassed. That’s why his workers leave, because he is too insulting, and I felt my mental health was being affected, so I decided to leave.
“When I told him I wanted to leave, he then offered me N5,000. What was that supposed to cover? I stayed the longest of all the staff he had; I endured his jabs, and he was giving me that amount. Is it fair? That is why I did what I did. He can’t do anything to me because he, too, knew he tried to cheat me. He called my uncle, fuming and threatening, but he won’t get anything back,” Inemesit insisted.
When our correspondent inquired what he did with the tools he took, he confessed that he now uses them in his own shop.
The distraught woman said she had been looking for the suspect for over two weeks without success, disclosing that despite arresting Kasali’s guarantor, his wife, and father, he had failed to show up.
“The police asked us to release them, and we’ve released them. I have hired trackers and done a lot, but I don’t know who can help me. Please, I just need my money back. I don’t know where to start or how to raise this money again.
“My son will soon go to school, and I’ve been the only one working hard and doing every business that I can think of, just for my children to be fine,” she added.
In CCTV footage dated October 20, 2025, and posted by a Facebook user, Zara Oyinye, a man believed to be Kasali could be seen entering an apartment using a key.
In the video, the suspect, dressed in a black shirt and trousers and wearing a black face cap, climbed the stairs in the bungalow, apparently leading to a bedroom, and could be seen leaving the apartment at about 10:10 a.m., holding a bag.
“That bag you see him holding contained my dollars,” the woman could be heard saying in the video. “I’m sharing this so that everybody can be wary because he’s looking for the next victim and the next house to go. His phone has been switched off, but we are sure he is using another phone.”
In an update shared by the same X user, Chuks, on November 7, he posted a video where a man believed to be Kasali could be seen prostrating and apologising to some persons, with a caption indicating that he had been arrested by the police.
Responding to the post, an X user, Ben Samuel (@flourish007), shared the photo of a lady whom he said posed as a farm worker and bolted with his money.
“It’s now riskier than ever to hire anyone in Nigeria. Just this week, the lady whose photo is below came to my farm, stole 12 rams and one cow, then vanished with my money after I paid her to supply four more cows. I’m still searching for her.”
He added, “The police are helpless. Who can you trust in Nigeria? Absolutely no one — not even the government.”
Similar to this woman’s ordeal, in August, the Lagos State Police Command said it busted a suspected car theft syndicate accused of using fake drivers to steal their employers’ vehicles.
The Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, said the gang leader, identified as Chinedu Emmanuel, was arrested during an operation that took place on July 17 in the Ogijo area of Ogun State.
According to him, Emmanuel recruited criminally minded drivers and recommended them to unsuspecting car owners for employment.
The police boss explained that the drivers took over the vehicles of their employers after spending a week or two with them and thereafter took them across the border.
He added that they sometimes dismantled the cars in Ogun State and sold the spare parts to dealers.
In spite of the bad experiences some Nigerians have had with domestic help and artisans, others have had positive encounters.
“We have a domestic help who has been working for us for over five years, and she is not a thief or a bad person. Not a naira has ever been missing from my drawer, and my foodstuffs are intact. That is what encourages me to support her.
“I believe when we employ domestic help or contact an artisan with integrity, we should give them more than their wages or fares to encourage them, because we live in a dangerous world now.
“I think it all boils down to the nature of people. I know a friend whose artisan, an electrician, stole one of her phones and kept lying to her. Meanwhile, she had recommended him to her friends and had to warn them to be wary of the man,” a food vendor, Mrs Damilola Alimi, told Sunday PUNCH.
A crypto trader, Obinna Muoka, who had previously worked as a domestic help, explained that most home staff who pilfer items from their employers are driven by underlying greed.
“During the time I was a home help, I didn’t steal from the family I worked for. Now that I think of it, I realise I was underpaid, but it never occurred to me to steal from them. Aside from my religious views, I think people who steal like that come under a negative influence, and things start going wrong for them.
“When I was a domestic help, I sincerely loved the family I worked for, and their children particularly loved me too. Not all of us are thieves, but some people have the mindset to steal from others, and they spoil the reputation of domestic care work,” Muoka said.
Psychologist Kolawole Afolabi explained that stealing from employers could stem from a sense of normalised crime, where domestic staff or artisans see their employer’s belongings as “fair game.”
“There are individuals who may suffer from weak impulse control, where high-risk behaviour becomes something they are attracted to. There could also be self-entitlement and minimal empathy towards the employer.
“There is a need to examine the underlying cause, whether it is displaced aggression towards the employer, being overworked, or mistreated, and whether they resort to stealing as a way to make sense of the cognitive distortion. They may need counselling so that the root causes are identified and addressed,” Afolabi noted.
Commenting on the issue, lawyer Cyril Ugonna explained that under the Nigerian Criminal Code, theft committed by artisans, domestic workers, or drivers is treated as aggravated stealing.
“Section 384 defines stealing by persons in special relationships, which covers situations where the offender occupies a position of trust. Similarly, Section 390(6) of the Criminal Code Act provides that if the offender is a clerk or servant, or is employed in such a capacity, and steals anything in the possession or power of his master or employer, he is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
“This applies to domestic staff and artisans working in a home or business under employment, any worker serving in the capacity of a servant or clerk. Some suspects argue that they were underpaid, but that argument does not hold because stealing is a strict offence.
“While underpayment may raise labour and contractual issues, it does not legally justify stealing. Nigerian criminal law does not recognise poverty or perceived unfair wages as a defence,” Ugonna explained. – Punch.
