It
is believed that she was murdered by yet-to-be-identified Russian gangsters. According
to a family source, the perpetrators went further to lock her body in a room
and set it ablaze. Though, the police took her to the hospital, it was rather
futile.
The
source revealed that Forester was sponsored abroad by one Mercy who is
suspected to be trafficking Nigerian girls on the promise that she would assist
them with decent jobs in Russia. The teenager without hesitation, but with the
approval of her mother jumped at the offer with high hopes.
According
to the deceased’s elder sister, Sonia Samson, they got a call from Mercy, on
Tuesday March 4, 2014 that Forester had died in an inferno. She added that the
family was later told that Forester was stabbed before being set ablaze.
Sonia
said, “Her madam is the one that called us on Tuesday and told us she was
locked in a room and set ablaze by some unknown Russians. She told us that she
was rushed to the hospital, that they were treating her.
“Later
that day, she also told us that she was initially stabbed before she was burnt.
Not too long after, she told us that she was dead. The madam said she was not
the only victim in the attack. She said there were five other Nigerians, that
another one died four or five days after the attack.
“My
sister died mysteriously, just as another sister of mine was also killed by
armed robbers. Sincerely, I am confused because I don’t know why all this is
happening to us. Particularly for me, it is so painful that I don’t really know
what to say or do. This is a difficult time for the family and I believe we
need to be more prayerful more than ever before.”
The
late Forester, who would have been celebrating her 18th birthday on March 30
hails from Igbekhue in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State. She
completed her secondary education in 2013.
Forester’s
father, Friday Osazuwa Samson was killed four years ago in Benin by suspected
armed robbers. He was shot in broad daylight in front of his shop at Upper
Sakponba. Until Friday’s death, he was a successful businessman, a distributor
with Sona and Bendel breweries.
Siblings
and other relatives of the late Forester’s father are worried and pained by
circumstances surrounding how Forester was lured into traveling to Russia,
which they described as shady. Recognizing the fact that she did not travel to
Russia for further education, even as they were not also informed of such
plans, they are calling on concerned authorities to wade into the matter.
They
are accusing Mercy of human trafficking and calling on National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to investigate the activities of
this said Mercy. They also want the Nigerian Embassy in Russia to as a matter
of urgency unravel the mystery surrounding the death of their daughter.
Meanwhile,
Forester’s uncle, Mr Saturday Samson Osazuwa accused Forester’s mother of
conniving with the said madam (Mercy) to deceive and persuade the teenager to
travel abroad. He queried why Forester’s mother, Elizabeth, decided to hide his
niece’s whereabouts from him. Saturday, who now acts as a father figure to the
children since their father’s death, said the mother refused to disclose where
Forester was, even as he insisted on seeing her. He Said: “The mother was aware
that Forester had travelled abroad. Not just that, I believe she was part of
the arrangement that her 17-year-old daughter should travel abroad. It is
really unfortunate and wicked of her to have taken that decision.
“If
my brother, her husband was alive, he would never allow such a thing for any of
his children. What was Forester looking for in Russia? Was it to go there and
school? Certainly not. Now, she has caused the entire family pain and sorrow.
The girl was beautiful and intelligent. I still cannot understand what she was
sent to Russia to do at her tender age.
His
words: “What exactly will Forester be doing abroad when she was supposed to be
studying at the University of Benin or any other higher institution of learning
in Nigeria? What she did is unacceptable to every member of our family.”
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