The Cynthia We knew-

Neighbours and school mates. The gruesome murder of beautiful Cynthia Osokogu in Lagos has no doubt sent shock waves across the nation. While some are yet to accept the reality of her untimely departure, her friends and colleagues in Nasarawa State, especially Keffi where she carried out her studies and business, are searching for the right words to convey their utter shock and disbelief. Speaking with LEADERSHIP, a graduate of Geography and Mining from the Nasarawa State University (NSUK), Emmanuel Samuel, now on national youth service in Kaduna and who is also close to some of the members of Cynthia’s family said: “The news came to me as a rude shock.” Samuel noted that he was confounded the more because Cynthia was by every standard well catered for by her parents and had no need to take any such decision of crossing half of this country to honour an invitation from unknown people in the name of social networking. Mr. Samuel further noted that Cynthia was not known to be materialistic and had never demonstrated any such excessive crave   to warrant losing her life in her prime. “Besides, if she were the type that looked up to men, she would not have been so enterprising as to run a successful business of her own,” he added. On her part, Miss Jennifer Gana, a student in the department of Business Administration, said Cynthia was a sociable student who was popular on campus because of the things she represented. According to her, besides being the model of exquisite beauty, being one of the very few girls on campus who owned an automobile caught the attention of the uptown men on campus. “Cynthia was easy to talk. I would miss her warmth and smiles a lot,” Gana said. On their part, Mallam Dangir Ramalan and the caretaker of Zuma Plaza, Sanusi Shehu, both said they had a cordial relationship with her. Shehu remarked that Cynthia  was always the first to settle her bills. Recounting how they got the news, he said: “Two weeks ago, the overseer of the Plaza, Mallam Ramalam, asked me to remind Cynthia that her tenancy was due to expire soon and she should make efforts to renew it. “I spoke to her salesgirl, an Igede girl from Oju local government area of Benue State, and she said her madam had travelled but would be informed as soon as she returns, little did we know we were never going to meet in this life again.” Speaking to our correspondent in pidgin English, Cynthia’s  Senegalese co-tenant at the Plaza, Muhammadu Diallo, said the deceased would always mind her own business and that except you had any dealings with her you would hardly notice her arrival or departure. “She is reserved and doesn’t make unnecessary noise like most of the girls you find around,” he noted.  A worker at the Nasarawa State University (NSUK) who craved anonymity said many students will miss Cynthia because she was very benevolent and many students depended on her generosity to fill in the gaps. He added that whenever there was an event at the department, she was always at the forefront of mobilising finances for the success of the programmes.