Last week, Cynthia Udoka Osokogu‘s
photograph was all over the internet. She had been missing since late
July 2012, however, the news became viral just a few days ago.
What Happened to Cynthia?
24 Year Old Cynthia Osokogu left
Abuja in late July 2012 (According to reports, on the 22nd of July
2012). Like many enterprising young people, the post-graduate student of
Nasarawa State University was a clothing retailer and had travelled to
Lagos to purchase new stock.
Cynthia had been chatting with
some new “friends” on Facebook for a few months. In the course of their
conversations, they developed a friendship and a level of trust. These
young men were also university students, they seemed normal and promised
to host Cynthia when she came to Lagos.
with her two brothers |
There is speculation
that they paid for her plane ticket and promised to pay for her hotel as
well. Only Cynthia knows if this is true. Whatever the truth is,
Cynthia trusted her new friends and had no idea that they had sinister
plans.
What we know is that, these 2
young men picked Cynthia up from the airport in Lagos and drove her to a
hotel in Festac. At the hotel, they tied her up, robbed her of all the
money she brought to shop for her business and strangled her to death.
They then left the hotel and quickly deleted her from their facebook friend list to remove any trace of their connection.
The hotel found her body and
since her ID cards and mobile phone had been stolen, they could not
identify her or call friends and family.
Her body was deposited in a morgue in Lagos.
All this time, her family and friends were praying for her safe return.
How the Killers Were Caught
At some point, one of the
culprits accidentally answered Cynthia’s phone and the call was traced
to Festac. Therefore, her missing person’s police report
was submitted to the Area E Command in Festac. This enabled her family
to find her body in the morgue and also led them to the hotel.
Using
CCTV from the hotel, the killers were identified. According to reports,
these two young men are university students who have now confessed that
they killed Cynthia and she is their sixth victim – the gang reportedly
specializes in luring unsuspecting young women, robbing them of their
possessions before killing them. Though there is speculation that their
motive was ritualistic, it appears that it was greed and their main goal
was to rob and kill. The pharmacist who supplied the drugs used on
Cynthia and hotel staff have also been arrested. According to Police
spokesperson Ngozi Braide, “Six people were arrested on Sunday over the incident and investigations are ongoing”.
What we can learn from this
We have seen so many online
comments judging Cynthia. This could have happened to anyone. With
social media, this false sense of comfort and trust can be very
misleading. We know couples who met on Facebook or BBM groups and are
still together. If you ask them if they took security measures to
protect themselves when they first met, many will confess that they did
not. We hear of friendships built on twitter and BBM, where the first
meeting was in the home of one of the friends. The truth is anything can
happen. You have to be savvy and wise.
Cynthia was the only daughter
and the last born of her parents – Ret. Major General Frank & Mrs
Joy Osokogu. She was dotted on by her three elder brothers and parents.
She was vibrant and enterprising. Everyone misses her so much! May
Cynthia’s gentle soul rest in peace.
Her brother, dad and mum |
Tribute to Cynthia by her best friend, Aishatu Ene Ella
In the last few days I have seen
had my heart torn, stripped and broken in pieces first by the
disappearance and death of my Dearest friend and secondly by the
wickedness exhibited by Nigerians, passing judgment on someone they
never knew or met.
When she was officially declared
missing we put up a number online so people with information can call
and help out, of over 500 calls we received in 3 days, only 2 of those
calls were from people who actually helped with information. One was my
dear friend Nuhu Kwajafa, the other was the Area Commander who called to
inform us of the arrest of the people. The others were heartbreaking to
say this least, I wondered how her mother would have coped if she had
to deal with silliness, pettiness and undeserved hate from strangers,
who just took one look at a lady and decided to judge her based on her
looks.
When the sad news of her death
broke, I made a comment and said I hope “all those who have insisted she
was with a man would have their answer now and let her rest in peace”
how wrong I was, They wouldn’t rest, they would only go back and
manufacture a more hurtful and painful story, formulate more rumors and
pass it around as facts, hmmm it is well. I have no comments for hateful
people, I just want to share with you the real Cynthia, the Cynthia we
knew not the one who hateful people have created in the last few days.
Cynthia was born on 10th of
November 1987 to Gen Frank and Joy – Rita Nkem Osokogu, Udoka as her
Mother named her, even as a baby was a uniting factor in her family. Her
Mother had 3 boys before her, she was the last baby and only girl.
Her Parents had settled in Jos where we were and still neighbors, We became friends because in those days there were only few houses in the area. I was the last child and so didn’t have a lot of playmates my age, her brothers were my mates and Cynthia as the only girl didn’t have much friends around the neighborhood either so she tagged along when we had our “adventures” and “yawo”.
Cynthia the Model and Business Woman
2004 was one of the hardest
years for the Family I was raised with in Jos, Cynthia and her Mom was
with me all the way. They were there to comfort, assist, cook etc.
She
was a tall beautiful and slender girl, we always teased her because
even at 13 she was taller than me and the same height with her brothers,
she was a tomboy all the way. Determined, stubborn and focused. As she
grew into her height Her Mum and I playful suggest she try modeling
because of her structure, Cynthia took it seriously, even though her
major focus was education she gave modeling a trial and did quiet well
as a model.
In 2007, she got her first major
run way job and I will never forget the day she called me from Lagos
after she had been paid, she said she wouldn’t want to waste the money
and would buy clothes and bring to school to sell. The first badge of
clothes never made it to keffi as industrious Cynthia who staying with
her brother during her visit at Airforce Quarters sold the clothes to
her brother, his colleagues and their friends, she told me she made 3
times her capital and immediately re-invested, bought more stock, came
to Keffi and rented a shop, that was the birth of her Baby: “Dresscode”.
I remember I bought her the
forms to one of the national competitions some years ago, she passed the
screening passed 2 stages and called me one day to say she was asked to
compromise to get through the next round, I told her to withdraw and
she left. That was in 2011. She never entered any major pageant after
that.
When it came to business Cynthia
was midas, she knew when to make a great sale, she was never at a loss,
her business grew from strength to strength all this while she was not
even 21, @ 21 a lot of the people who now make it a point to formulate
such hateful rumors were still struggling to buy Jamb Results.
Cynthia the Sister and Daughter
Cynthia was like the baby sister
I didnt have, She was my confidant, stylist and a great comfort. We
shared a lot, tears, smiles, laughs, joys ,sorrows and was always at my
service. She was greatly involved in charity, anytime I sent a text or
posted a picture of someone needing medical support, I could count on
Cynthia as one of the first respondents. When she was in Abuja, she
would always come and volunteer, run errands, always with a smile. When I
get to Jos, she will be at the motor park waiting, Thats if she doesnt
pick me up from Abuja. Not to forget my person Stylist, she either
bought or chose most of my clothes, most times my friend say “you look
nice” i tell them “ask Cynthia oh, I have no idea what I am wearing”.
Style has never been a strong point of mine, but if Cynthia bought it or
asked me to buy it I knew it was good and stylish
To
her Mother, Cynthia was her heart. Several times I will ask Cynthia
please dont go to Jos it is volatile and she will reply me ” Mumsy is
alone at home”, or when she is in Jos and there was a fight I would call
and ask her to leave Jos and come and stay a few days with me, she will
say “I cant leave Mumsy alone here now” . That was our Cynthia, Others
first.
When it was time to serve, while
others would work their service to areas full of opportunity like
Abuja, Lagos and Porthacort, Cynthia worked her service to crisis ridden
Jos to be close to her Mother, Is that what a “runsgirl” does?
At age 24, Cynthia had a
successful business, and was running a Post Graduate Program in Public
Administration, sadly people will ignore all that and choose to believe
that because she is pretty and Young she must be a “Runsgirl”, how sad,
we Judge people by our own low and shabby standards.
She
earned every kobo she had by good old hard work, Lets even forget her
Father supported her financially but that didn’t turn her to a spoilt
brat she was as determined as ever to make her own mark and earn her own
keep.
The world and people who have no
standards can stand afar and Judge all they want but we know who you
are and we love you, we don’t need to defend You My baby, just setting
the records straight.
The security Situation in our
country now is horrible at best, people are kidnapped, robbed and killed
everyday, why is it so hard to believe that a young girl was killed
while going to pursue her legitimate business? If It was a man who was
killed would we have come up with all these stories? If it was an older
woman or someone not so attractive would we still? Her crime is being,
young, pretty and a business woman. Hmmm, People, Have the decency to
let us mourn in peace. Please.
Hmm! Dis is so touchin,frm all u'v said girl u r 100 percent right,we all judge afar forgetting dat we aiint permitted to xcept God. All I can say is dat may her gentle soul RIP and may God grants her parent,siblings and frnds fortitude to bear the great loss. What a great MISS.....
ReplyDeletePathetic... May her soul rest in peace
ReplyDeleteIts so sad. I don't know what has become of Nigerian youth. MONEY has taken over our sense of reasoning. May God help us.
ReplyDeleteThis is wickedness. after robbing her of her money must they killed her. Everybody should be careful of friends dey meet on d internet.
ReplyDeletei feel for the lady,Nigerians, it is when things like this happen that we think we are super humans that such cant happen to us,what about hasbands killing wife and vice versa,does it mean that the victim is a runsgirl or guy? pls lets be careful in judging people.
ReplyDeletelesson to all trust no trust no man,only trust God our lord jesus christ .Becareful.
ReplyDelete