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 toldCrime Guardthat :"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 Guardgathered.
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.
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