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From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
Mrs. Rose Erekaa, is a widowed mother of six. She lost her husband in May 2021 and since then life has not been easy, but for her children who have kept her hopes alive.
So, when on Monday, February 20, her first daughter, Naomi Dooshima Erekaa, a student of Benue State University (BSU), went missing and was found dead on Wednesday, February 22, the heart-broken mother said in tears: “My daughter told me I should not worry, that when she finishes her education, she will take care of me with the little she has. I wonder how I can stand or stay without Naomi. I feel the pains.
“If they bring that boy before me, I can do to him worse things than he did to my daughter because Naomi is everything to us.
“At least, if this boy had cut her two legs and sent her to me…but why Naomi, why me? Even if my Naomi did anything to him, he is supposed to come to me and report.”
Members of the Makurdi community in Benue State are still in shock about how life has become cheap among young Nigerians whose craze and quest for money has pushed them into various vices to the detriment of their fellow human beings.
Noami Erekaa was declared missing and, three days after, her lifeless body was found in a shallow grave in a community opposite the College of Health Science, BSU, Makurdi.
It was said that after she went missing, her phone, identification card and blood-stained clothes were found on Tuesday, a few metres away from where her body was later discovered. Her suspected killer, one Shagbaor Japheth, also a student of the university, was arrested by the police in Makurdi.
From his confessional statement, Japheth reportedly killed Naomi after he collected N150,000 from her as a property agent, with the promise to help her get an apartment. It was said that, after collecting the money, he spent it on other things. While he was yet to show her any house, he started calling her and mounting pressure on her to bring the agency fee of N15,000.
Our correspondent gathered that it was when she went to pay the N15,000 that she met her untimely end as Shagbaor allegedly collected the N15,000 and still killed her, using a machete, to cover his tracks and save himself from paying back the debt.
When our correspondent visited Naomi’s home, off Akpehe Road, in the Logo 2 area of Makurdi, the state capital, her mother was sitting on a mat with her younger sister. Her hands were clapsed between her legs in front of her and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She was surrounded by some sympathisers and one of her sons sat closeby with some friends who came to mourn with them.
Giving her account, the heart-broken mother, said: “I am Rose Erekaa and Naomi Dooshima Erekaa is my child. On Monday morning, when I was going to work, I stood by the window to tell her that I was ready to go. So, I called her and said, can we see the next day? She said yes, then I went to work.
“She was also preparing for her own work but she said before she reached her workplace, she would go to submit her assignment in school, at Benue State University.
“Naomi worked in a hotel in Court 5, in the North Bank area of Makurdi. So while at work, a few minutes to 9am, I called her twice but nobody picked, then the third time I called, a boy answered and told me that the phone was charging, that I should call Naomi later, I said okay. So, I went on with my work. When I came back, I was busy doing other things because I lost one of my husband’s brothers and we were preparing a vehicle to take us home for his burial.
“We planned leaving around 4pm for the village but we didn’t leave Makurdi early until around 6pm. Before we left for the burial, I called her to inform her so that she would know we were going, but nobody still picked the call. When I called the third time, one girl answered and asked, ‘Are you Best Mummy?’ and I said yes. She then said that she picked the phone on the ground and I asked her what time, she said 3pm.
“I asked where Naomi was and she answered that she didn’t know the owner of the phone that she picked it somewhere. Immediately, I called her younger sister and told her to go to BSU’s second gate and stay with the person that was talking there and collect the phone.
“So, I travelled for the burial and when I came back the following day, I saw many people here (in the compound), and I asked, ‘My child didn’t back?’ They said no. I was so restless because I didn’t know any of her friends that I could start calling or where they lived.
“But there was a woman in the house that said her child was with Naomi that day, her name is Faith. She was crying so I asked her why she was crying she said that she saw blood on Naomi’s clothes and that was why she was crying. I said ha! You saw blood and you concluded that Naomi is dead? I didn’t believe it but I saw it in my dream that Monday evening when we got to the burial.
“And I was telling my people that whenever I wanted to sleep, I would see Naomi with blood on her head and a knife in her chest. She was crying and she was so tired. That she was no more alive.
“When I came back, they were disturbing me to go for prayers, so when I went for the prayer, the woman told me to read many verses of the Bible; Psalms, Exodus, many other verses, but I wasn’t sitting comfortably there because I knew what happened.
“Later, my phone rang and my younger sister answered it. They told her that they saw Naomi’s dead body at the back of an uncompleted building by Rahama Clinic. We should go and carry it.
“The place is an empty land that was fenced round. There is no building inside but they always farm inside. The boy, after he killed Naomi, broke the fence, called one of his friends to help him drop her body there.”
At that point, she broke into tears. It took some time before the next words followed and painfully too: “And before they killed Naomi, they raped her, and when they got the boy, he said he was her agent, that she paid him N150,000 and he spent the money, that he was afraid that if Naomi comes, he doesn’t have it.”
Meanwhile, according to her, Naomi told her friend that she was going to pay the remaining agency fee of N15,000. He collected the N15,000, making it N165,000 and still killed Naomi.
“And even when they killed Naomi, he was still calling her phone (the big phone that fell). According to the girl, who picked the phone, the agent called more than 20 times to know where the phone was because they were struggling with her and the phone fell down.”
She further said: “The boy did not even say what Naomi did to him. He is a 400 level student in English, Naomi was in 300 level Mass Communication.
“I am heart-broken. It is because of Naomi’s money that he killed her. And the boy didn’t tell me what Naomi did to him that he killed Naomi. I have begged them to show me this boy, let me just see his face and ask him what Naomi did to deserve this death, but they don’t want to take me there.”
While explaining that the boy has been arrested and in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department, said she did not believe the boy’s explanation.
“She paid him N150,000 to find her an accommodation and he spent it. Why did you still call for the balance, collected it, raped her and killed her? There is more that he is not telling me and he has to tell me what my daughter did wrong.
“This is too much, too painful for me. Even now, I still don’t believe that my child is dead. It’s very painful. For now, the government can take the case anywhere and do whatever they want, but all I want now is for them to release the body to me so that I can go and bury my child.
“Even if they kill the boy, my child will not come back. But it is so painful. Naomi was the one paying her school fees and even helping with the junior ones. My daughter told me I should not worry, when she finishes schooling, the little she has, she will take care of me. I wonder how I can stand or stay without Naomi. I feel the pains.
“If they bring that boy before me, I can do to him worse things than he did to my daughter because Naomi was everything to us. If Naomi she was coming back from work and she couldn’t reach here on time, she would call me and tell me where she was. My daughter could not go anywhere without my knowledge. I trusted her.
“At least, if this boy had cut her two legs and sent her to me, but why Naomi, why me? Even if my Naomi did anything to him, he is supposed to come to me and report.”
Naomi’s younger sister, Abigail, described her as kind and easygoing, explaining that she hardly had issues with people and wondered why anyone would kill her in that manner.
She said: “My sister, Naomi, was a very kind-hearted and very easygoing person and one thing I liked about her was that she didn’t tolerate nonsense. Whether from an adult or not, she would tell you to your face that this is what you did and, peace would reign.
“Sometimes, she meets me and tells me about her issues with friends and how they have offended her and I’ll tell her to avoid that person. But instead she will say that she likes the person and wants to remain with the person. She has never told me she had a fight with someone and we never saw her death coming at all.”
She said her sister told her about the house she was looking for and she also told her that she had paid the money but it was remaining the agent’s fee and that she was going to pay it, but she turned up dead.
“I will miss my sister. I’ll miss everything about her, starting from her kind nature and her jokes. In fact, I’ll just miss everything about her and want government to punish her killers accordingly to serve as deterrence to others because if they are not punished they will still do it again and again,” Abigail said.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command said it has arrested the suspected killer of Naomi. The police public relations officer in the state, SP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the arrest on phone, said he was arrested by the ‘E’ Division. According to her, investigation is ongoing.
A source said the boy confessed to using machete to inflict injuries on the girl, leading to her death. He said the body would be released to the family after investigation.
The source described the incident as unfortunate, saying “the father of the boy testified that the boy is a bad boy, that there is nothing he has never done to change him, though he said he is not a cult member. If he had a gun, he would have quietly silenced the girl because the gun is the easiest way to kill but whatever that will make a boy wield machete and begin to cut is very serious,” he said.
Condolences
Some of the deceased’s friends have also taken to her social media handle, Facebook, to express their shock, sadness and pay their last respects to the late Naomi.
Official Bowi Real wrote: “I still can’t believe you are gone. Saying goodbye isn’t for us. Instead, I will say that I look forward to seeing my friend again. Each time I am reminded of you,I feel I am dreaming. The two hardest things to say in life is hello for the first time and goodbye for the last. Rest in peace #Naomi.
Another student who expressed shock at the news of her death said they were to submit assignments that day by 12 noon and when her friends called her earlier, Naomi told them that she would come as soon as the time draws closer.
“When they started calling her, the number was not going again so we were shocked when they said she was found dead. We are still in shock and to think that someone killed her for her money is also very bad,” the student said and prayed God to rest her soul and console the entire family.
