One 19 years old Margaret Adiya Ikumu has confessed to faking her death in order to avoid financial pressure from her mother.
The teenager who is from Oni community, Oju local government area, Benue State, was discovered to be working as a house maid in an estate at Ajah area of Lagos State after faking her death.
She was arrested by the police.
In her statement at the police station, she was said to have confessed to creating a Facebook account and posted her obituary with the intent to keep her family away from her.
She said that her mother was putting financial pressure on her, constantly demanding that she sent money to her.
She said she was displeased by her mother and uncle’s inability to sponsor her education after the death of her father.
She said she was in Lagos to work, save some money and return to school.
The spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana gave details of the case in a statement he issued on Sunday.
The statement reads:
“On 15/5/2020, the Command received a petition signed by one Tony Iji on behalf of the family of one Margaret Adiya Ikumu ‘f’ 19 year old from Oni community, Oju Local Government Area, Benue State. The petitioners stated that their attention was drawn to a post on Facebook stating that the said Margaret Adiya died few days ago and was secretly buried by her two friends Marvelous Mary and Nneka Buddy at Ajah area.
“The family further stated that they were able to establish contact with the said friends who confirmed to them that their daughter is dead. That they were instructed by Margaret not to allow members of her family know anything about her dead and that they were authorised by the deceased person to secretly bury her. To make them believe that the girl is dead, they sent WhatsApp chats to a member of the girl’s family with picture of a casket showing that the girl was buried. The known phone number of the girl was permanently switched off. The family also got in touch with a man on phone who claimed to be her boyfriend. He corroborated the claim that she was dead.
“The girl was eventually found by the Police to be alive and working as a house maid in an estate at Ajah. When her employer saw the report of her purported death, they quickly informed the Police and she was brought to Ajah Police Station. In her statement, she confessed to have created the Facebook account and posted her obituary with intent to keep her family away from her. “That her mother was putting financial pressure on her, constantly demanding that she sent money to her. The girl was apparently bitter with her mother and uncles, over their inability to sponsor her education after the death of her father. Her sojourn to Lagos was to work, save some money and return to school.
“She admitted using her employer daughter’s photograph Dr Nimechi Ugorji (without her knowledge) in the fictitious Facebook account she created, as profile picture. After posting the obituary notice on the account, her Uncle downloaded the profile picture and reposted, calling on members of the public who knew the person on the photograph to report to the nearest Police Station. Investigation is ongoing.”
