Benue State capital, Markurdi, was thrown into mourning last Friday after the discovery of a lifeless body of a mother of two said to have drowned herself in River Benue due to her inability to repay the loan of N400,000 she invested in MMM.
Husband of 34-year-old mother of two, Gloria Samson, said he didn’t have any inkling that his wife planned to kill herself.
Speaking in an emotion-laden voice, David Samson told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was aware that his wife was a victim of the money-doubling scheme; Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox otherwise called MMM.
The deceased began the journey to her final resting place at a public cemetery located in Ankpa ward, Makurdi, the state capital, last Friday.
As her corpse, wrapped in a casket, arrived in the cemetery, crowd of mourners wore gloomy faces, women wept profusely and men in teary eyes shook their heads intermittently.
The circumstance surrounding the death of the woman fuelled the agony of the sympathisers who knew the deceased. She lived with her family at Vandeikya Street, Makurdi.
Sources told SUNDAY PUNCH that the woman left home without her phone three days after Christmas and reportedly told her kids to forgive her. She also sent same message to her husband through her children.
It was learnt that few days after she left her home, precisely January 2, the police in Benue discovered a lifeless body floating on River Benue at Wadata area, few kilometers to her residence.
Rescue operations got the floating corpse and deposited the remains at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi.
Meanwhile, Gloria’s family had searched for her for three weeks until they heard about the corpse the police discovered on River Benue which later turned out to be her.
Samson disclosed that he was aware that his wife took a loan of N400,000 from four different places which she did not invest in her petty business.
He said,
“My wife was into petty trading and she had been collecting soft loan from a micro finance bank to boost her business. Anytime she collected the money, she paid back and in most cases, I was her guarantor.
“You know women sometimes keep secret; towards November and December 2016, I discovered she took a loan from four places amounting to N400,000. I do not know what she used the money for because there was nothing in the shop to suggest that she invested the money in her business.
“She did not tell me but what I observed is that my wife developed a cold attitude around the time the report of the freezing of accounts of MMM subscribers in Nigeria went viral. Her attitude changed and she became depressed.”
He stated that the situation lasted till the Christmas period and when he asked her what the problem was, she told him that she was sick and he told her to see a doctor.
“She obliged and was diagnosed of typhoid and malaria and placed on medication. Even on Christmas Day, she could not go to church. A day after Christmas, she complained of pile and I had to buy traditional medicine which she declined to take.
On December 28, 2016 around 11pm, I was at my place of work when my son, Wisdom called me using his mother’s phone number telling me that his mother had left the house since and had yet to return. I told him I was close by and on getting home, I did not see her. I discovered that she left the house with a gown and bathroom slippers.
“I tried to look for her and could not find her. I picked my phone and contacted my siblings and brother-in-law. The following morning, I went to B Police Division to complain but I was told to wait after 24 hours, which I did. On the second day, I was asked to make a statement and leave behind my phone number.’’
The distraught husband further said he did not hear from the police for two weeks and he had to keep searching and informing people in case anyone of them saw his wife.
“Some members of my church including my pastor were aware and kept on interceding for us. This continued until last Tuesday when a woman came to my house and told one of my neighbours that a police woman told her that they discovered the body of a woman floating on River Benue around Wadata area since January 2.
“Immediately I heard this, I was perplexed because something in me told me it might be my wife. I told my neighbour to join me to go to A Division at Wadata. When we got there, the police showed me the picture of the dead woman and I discovered that she was my wife.’’
He told Punch that he was still confused as to what could make his wife to kill herself. He stated,
“My wife loved herself and she could not even allow a razor to touch her body not to talk of going to this length. That is why I said it is more of spiritual attack, but only God knows.
“At the same time, when you look at the whole scenario, there is a conclusion that the money she collected was not invested in her business.’’
Neighbours of the deceased who spoke on condition of anonymity said she became moody shortly after the operators of the MMM froze three million accounts belonging to its Nigerian subscribers early December.
One of them said,
“What we gathered is that she borrowed money from four different places and invested it in MMM. But shortly after MMM froze the accounts of its Nigerian subscribers, she withdrew from people.”
Another neighbour stated,
“The woman was a jovial person but suddenly she withdrew to herself. I even tried to find out what was wrong with her because she was my customer but she did not tell me. She had a shop where she sold petty things. I later gathered that she took a loan from various places but instead of using it for her business, she invested it in MMM and since its collapse, she had refused to talk to anybody.”
One of the late woman’s customers at Wadata market, Makurdi, identified only as Bridget said,
“We met before Christmas and she lamented that she invested the loan she took from a micro finance bank and other sources in an investment that would bring quick and double money (referring to MMM) but the thing collapsed. She threatened that she would run away and I even preached to her not to do so. Since then, I did not see her again only to hear last Tuesday that she drowned herself in River Benue around Wadata.”
When contacted, spokesman for the police in the state, Moses Yamu, confirmed the incident.
“The husband of the deceased had come to claim the corpse,” he said.
