Makurdi, the Benue State capital, 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.
