Mom of 2 Commits Suicide Over N400,000 She Lost Due to Freezing of MMM Accounts

A family was thrown into mourning last Friday after the discovery of a lifeless body of a 34-year-old mother of two said to have drowned herself due to her inability to repay the borrowed N400,000 she invested in the popular Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM) scheme.

Gloria Samson, the deceased had left her home in Makurdi, on 28th December, 2016 around 9 p.m, abandoning her children, who are both five years of age. Just as she left, she bade her children goodbye and apologised for the things she might have done to hurt them, begging for their forgiveness as well.

She also sent the same message to her husband, via the kids. Her husband, David Samson (pictured above), a printer, who was at work at the time of the incident said he didn’t have any idea that his wife planned to commit suicide.

In a chat with PUNCH, David said he was aware that his wife was a victim of the money-doubling scheme, adding that his wife took a loan of N400,000 from four different places which she did not invest in her petty business.

”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 further disclosed 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.”

Heart broken David, in additio,n 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 stated that he was still confused as to what could make his wife kill herself.

”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 said she became moody shortly after the operators of the MMM froze three million accounts belonging to its Nigerian subscribers early December.

A neighbour 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.”

Police spokesman in the state, Moses Yamu, confirmed the incident saying the husband of the deceased had come to claim the corpse.

Photo credit: Tribune