A mother of two has narrated her horrific experience in the hands of her gateman who connived with his gang members to kill her after her husband embarked on an official trip.
Ifeoma Ibeneme Nwokeoma who returned home after paying her sister a visit on June 4, 2020 walked into an arm robbery attack. The gateman had connived with his other gang members to lay an ambush for her knowing her husband was not in the city.
The mother of two said the gateman rushed to turn on the generator as his gang members followed her into the house. Locking her two daughters in a room, they pounced on her and demanded a sum of N30 million cash.
Even though Ifeoma told them she did not keep such a large amount in the house, all her pleas fell on deaf ears as the armed men continuously macheted her each time she gave a negative response to their demands.
She was trying to make a mobile transfer into their account but her husband’s persistent calls interrupted the transaction. Sensing something was terribly wrong, her husband called neighbours to check on his family.
The relentless knocks on gate made the robbers frantic as they tied Ifeoma and tried to strangle her to death. Leaving her for dead, they looted the house and stole all the money and mobile devices they could lay their hands on.
Narrating her ordeal, the mother of two made a thanksgiving post on her social media account.
“I have come with a heart filled with thanksgiving to the king of kings, the giver of life, for showing me and my household mercy and delivering us from heartless armed men.
“On Saturday, the 4the of July 2020, my husband had travelled for work. So I was home alone with my girls. We had gone to visit my younger sister and came back at about 7pm. Sadly, unknown to me, my gateman whom I showed nothing but love had connived with his gang members and laid ambush in the compound to attack us .
“The moment I drove into the compound, he rushed to start the generator, on coming out of the car and proceeding to the house with my kids, these three armed men with long and short sparkly cutlasses came out from the back of the building and attacked us, me particularly. God removed their attention from my children. They threatened them not make noise and locked them in their room.
“They tortured me with all those arms they came with, asking for 30million naira. I was like who keeps 30 million naira in the house.
Each time they asked for money and didn’t get a favourable response from me , they beat, punched the hell out of me. They kept using their leg to smash my head and promised to kill me that night if I didn’t give them 30 million naira.
“They took my ATM cards and asked for the pin. At some point they asked me to do a transfer for them; which I was trying to do, but as God will have it, my husband felt it and started calling non-stop and called some other family members who started calling all the phones in the house including my children’s phones, which started ringing almost at the same time. Myhusband who suspected that all was not right sent some neighbours who came and kept banging at the gate, which cut their raid short. While they where beating me, I kept praying in all the languages I know. They tied my hand and legs so tight, then two of the men held my neck so tight and where trying to strangle me to death. And when it seemed their hand was not working, they used rope to tie my neck and kept strangling me. While they were doing that, I had made my peace with God, said my last prayers when something miraculous happened. I was knocked out for some seconds, my breath ceased but I was still conscious. How I got the energy to do that I can’t explain, and when that happened they thought I was dead. They raided the house, made away with phones, tablets, money, ATM and some valuables, and ran away.
“When I didn’t hear noises again, I got up, untied my legs, ran down stairs and locked the door, went to my children’s room and found them under the duvet. My daughter got a knife, cut those ropes and immediately we started hearing banging at the gate. I rushed and asked who it was, and it was my neighbours. The moment they opened the gate, I slumped and they rushed me to the hospital.
“Honestly, it was so horrible and the trauma is something else. Please keep us in your prayers. God showed me mercy and preserved my life. If my body is filled with lips, it’s not enough to thank you dear Lord.
“Please help me and thank the King of Kings for counting me worthy”