A man named David Moses has admitted to the horrific murders of a school nurse and a 14-month-old child at a school in the Dawaki area of Abuja, claiming that he was pressured by an alleged accomplice named Sunday, who is currently on the run.
Moses, a security guard at the school, made his confession during questioning by reporters at the Federal Capital Territory police command on Friday.
He revealed that he and Sunday had intended to kidnap the victims for ransom, originally asking for ₦250 million before agreeing on ₦3 million.
“The reason I am here is that I killed a child and a nurse at Clear Hope School on July 23. My friend and I demanded a ransom of ₦250 million, but later we settled for ₦3 million, which we received,” he stated.
According to Moses, the situation escalated into violence when he and Sunday had a dispute over the ransom.
He mentioned that he ultimately sought help and confessed to the police after receiving medical treatment. “When we got the money and were dividing it, that’s when we had an issue. My friend stabbed me with a knife, took the money, and fled.
I managed to get to someone's house and told them what was happening, although I didn’t reveal everything out of fear for my life. I insisted on going to the police so they could take me to the hospital and I could tell the full story.
The man I spoke with called the police, who then took me to the hospital. After my treatment, they asked me what happened, and I began to recount the entire story from the start.”
Describing how the school nurse was murdered, Moses stated that she was lured under the pretense of checking something in a bathroom, where Sunday allegedly strangled her with a rope.
“I called her from her classroom while Sunday was hiding in the toilet. When I called her, I told her I wanted to show her something near the front toilet where Sunday was concealed. As we walked, he emerged and grabbed her, placing a rope around her neck and started strangling her. She struggled, but eventually weakened.”
He confirmed that the child was also killed at Sunday’s urging. "Then he told me to go and fetch the baby so we could kill him too. I refused, saying that the woman was enough.
He insisted, arguing that without the baby, the ransom wouldn’t be sufficient. So, I went to get the baby.”
When asked if he had ever killed or kidnapped anyone before, he replied, “I have never done anything like this. This was the first time someone forced me into such a terrible act.”
Further questioned about his relationship with the nurse and the child, he stated that she had given him ₦300 for food on the day she was murdered. Moses remarked, “There was no relationship. She was kind to me. In fact, she had given me ₦300 to buy food that very day and had been supportive of me before that.”
Zachariah Fiyinfoluwa, a representative of the security firm that employed Moses, distanced the company from the crime, stating he learned about the disappearance of the nurse and child only after the school principal raised the alarm. “I don’t know anyone named Sunday.
The person we assigned to the school is David,” he stated. However, under scrutiny, Fiyinfoluwa acknowledged that the company failed to properly document Moses’ employment, including his guarantor's details. “It’s our fault that we didn’t keep the record,” he admitted.
When pressed about the company’s accountability, particularly for the safety of individuals on the premises, Fiyinfoluwa conceded that supervisors were expected to regularly check deployment sites but could not confirm if such inspections occurred at Clear Hope School.
In an interview, Police Commissioner Ajao Adewale stated that the victims were reported missing on July 23, 2025, from the school on the same day when a ransom demand of ₦250 million was made through the caregiver’s phone.
He noted that after investigations, police operatives apprehended Moses, who subsequently confessed to collaborating with his friend, Sunday Irimiya, who remains at large.
He explained, “On July 23, 2025, the FCT Police Command received a distress report regarding the sudden disappearance of Mrs. Chinyere Anaene, a 55-year-old school nurse and caregiver at Clear Hope Foundation Academy in Dawaki, Abuja, and a toddler named Nanenter Asher Yese, aged one year and two months.
On the same day, the caregiver's husband received a call on her mobile phone from unidentified individuals who demanded a ransom of ₦250 million for their release.”
“Even after killing the victims, they still requested ₦3 million from the family, pretending that the victims were still alive,” Adewale stated.
He also mentioned that police apprehended the school principal, two other security guards, and the Chief Security Officer of the private security firm that deployed Moses to the school during the investigation.
“In the course of our inquiry, we also arrested the school principal, two additional security guards who were supposed to be on duty with David Moses, and the Chief Security Officer of the security company responsible for assigning the guards to the school,” he confirmed.