As 26 year-old
girl, Gift Sunday, left her abode in Ketu , Lagos, to meet her boyfriend,
Raphael Effiong, who had invited her over on phone, Monday, July 28, 2014.
Never, in her wildest imagination, did she envisage that would be her last
day on earth.
Time was 8.30pm, shortly after the
Anietie family whom Gift stayed with, had their dinner.
While other members of the family
retired early, Gift announced that she was going to meet her boyfriend, who was
well known by the family.
But apprehension reportedly set in
when she did not return by midnight. Tension, heightened after efforts to reach
her on the phone proved abortive as it was discovered to be switched off.
Next day, the family’s fear was
confirmed following the visit of a woman later discovered to be a management
staff of Mayor Guest house located at 10 Yusuf Eleran street, Ketu. The woman
was said to have invited Gift’s sister , Mrs Ume Anietie to Fine Day hospital
at Elebiju street, where she was informed that Gift had passed on!
Love gone sour
Gift, as gathered, was stabbed in the
arm and breast by her boyfriend, Raphael at the guest house.
A man who claimed to have witnessed
it all told Crime Guard that :“I was seeing
a friend off, when I heard the shout of help from the hotel. I sensed all was
not well and went to the hotel to inform the staff. They told me it was normal
to hear lovers shout. But I insisted that the shout was not that of pleasure but
of panic and pain. It was at that point that we all rushed to the room and
forced the door open. To our disbelief, we saw a lady on the floor with a deep
cut in her hand from where blood was gushing out. The man with her was holding
a pair of scissors .
Delay
At first ,nobody knew what to do. We
told the man to take her to the hospital but he could not carry her because she
was big in size. We all carried her outside with blood still gushing out from
the deep cut in her hand.
It took about 30 to 40 minutes before
she was rushed to Fine Day hospital. Even when she got there, the doctors did
not attend to her on time. It was not until the Police at Alapere division
called and instructed them to commence treatment on her that they started
attending to her and we left”, the eye witness narrated.
Her Last words
Doctors at Fine Day hospital were
said to have managed to revive Gift. In an inaudible tone, she was said to have
told some of the hospital staff that it was not the first time Raphael would
beat her .
According to one of the hospital
workers who spoke on condition of anonymity : “ She told us that was not the
first time her boyfriend would beat her. She said anytime he sees her with any
man, he would beat her,both in the open. She also said that was why she
decided not marry him, so that he would not kill her someday”
At a point, Gift could not reportedly
speak, as she complained of weakness. Unfortunately, she could not owing to
loss of blood.Had blood been transfused into Gift, she would have probably
lived to share her ordeal,Crime Guard gathered.
Why I killed her
Raphael as gathered, attempted to
escape, on noticing the magnitude of his action. But he was apprehended by
staff of the hotel who handed him over to policemen at Alapere,from where he
was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department,SCID, Yaba,
Thursday.
At the SCID, Raphael told operatives
of the Homicide section that he stabbed Gift because she refused to marry him.
According to the Akwa-Ibom State
suspect:“I never knew she would die. I never meant to kill her. I only wanted
to threaten her with the scissors. We have been going out for a year and I
loved her so much … I proposed to her but she turned down my proposal, saying
she couldn’t marry me. I have begged her several times to have a change of mind
but she didn’t.
I have invested so much on her with
the hope of marrying her some day. But I never knew she was only deceiving me,
by playing on my intelligence. I just could not stand her getting married to
another person. The mere thought of that sends me crazy”, he said, begging the
deceased’s family members to forgive him. But members of the deceased’s family
are of the opinion that the act was preconceived, asking why the suspect took a
scissors to the guest house in the first place.
The late Gift, as gathered, was a
fashion designer. She was said to have been living with her sister since 2005,
from where she went to secondary school and thereafter, learnt fashion
designing. Until her death, she was said to have sewn wedding gowns for
different would -be brides, including those of their bridal trains,with the
hope of sewing for herself someday.
She was said to have boasted to close
friends that she would make the best for herself when the time came, unaware
that she would not live to witness the day. She had reportedly told close
friends that her choice of husband was a God-fearing man, little wonder she
accepted to go out with Raphael in the first instance , as they met in the
church. But along the line, Raphael reportedly left the church, shortly after
which he started demonstrating his battering tendency.
The deceased’s elder sister , Mrs
Anietie, who is yet to come to terms with Gift’s demise, said amidst tears: “
She was a very hard working lady. She was cheerful and was like a daughter to
me. I will forever miss her”.
Spokes person for the Lagos State
Police Command, Ngozi Braide , said the suspect would be charged to court at
the end of investigation.
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