The trauma etched on the face of a mother of three, Adetayo Ojo, was visible to anyone who encounters her.

She has been catering to the needs of her children while desperately searching for her husband, Olufemi Abass-Ojo, an employee of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Yaba, who has been missing since July 2, this year.

For over a month that her husband went missing, Mrs Ojo made several efforts to find him, including tracking his mobile through the police. But all efforts have not yielded any positive result.

“He’s been missing since July 2, 2024. He’s not been found,” Mrs Ojo told Peoples Gazette. “We went to the police with my sister-in-law to make a report. They said they’re going to track his phone but we have not got a report about the tracking.”

For Mrs Ojo, not knowing the whereabouts of her husband is terribly traumatising for the entire family as she had to tell her two younger children their dad travelled even when she was unsure her husband’s whereabouts.

“It’s not been easy at all but I’m coping. It’s a terrible thing. I don’t know his condition. I don’t know where he is. Whether he’s fine wherever he is, I don’t know. That thing can be very traumatising and disturbing,” Mrs Ojo said.

She added, “My first child is 13 years old. He knows this very well, I can’t lie to him. But the other two are 10 and eight years old. I just have to lie to them that their daddy travelled and he’ll be back, they don’t really understand much. But my first child understands everything, so I can’t lie to him. I have been lying to the other two because I don’t know what to tell them. I told the older one not to tell them anything.”

Mrs Ojo is not the only one seeking the whereabouts of her loved one at the moment. There have been growing cases of missing persons in the country with families making the search public on social media platforms having reported to the police without much result.

Like Mrs Ojo, Olarenwaju Ahmed, a graphic designer based in Ibadan, Oyo State, is experiencing a similar situation as his  mother, Mujidat Ahmed, has been declared missing after leaving her market stall at Gege Market, Ibadan, on  August 3.

According to Mr Ahmed, his mother informed her neighbours that she would return shortly after leaving her shop but has not been seen since then. Her family organised a search party but it had yet to record any positive outcome.

“I live in Lagos while she is in Ibadan,” Mr Ahmed explained. “Last Saturday, I was informed that she left her shop, leaving behind her phone and purse, and told her neighbours she was coming back. My sister later called to say that our mother had not returned home by evening.

“By Sunday, we contacted other relatives and began to search for her. We reported her disappearance to the Agodi Police Station in Ibadan and also reached out to Agidigbo Radio Station,” Mr Ahmed said.

He added that he had to design and circulate a flyer seen by The Gazette on Facebook to raise awareness about his mother’s disappearance.

The search for his mother has been both traumatic and devastating for Mr Ahmed and his family, compounded by the fact that no potential abductors had contacted them. This could have been a probable first thought regarding her disappearance since kidnap-for-ransom is a thriving illicit trade in Nigeria.

“It has been devastating,” Mr Ahmed told The Gazette. “On Sunday, my sister, who was meant to be at Agidigbo Radio Station, broke down from the stress and had to be hospitalised. I am struggling to cope with this distressing situation.”

Similarly, one Pastor Asenuga, whose mobile was on a flyer announcing the disappearance of a Lagos-based octogenarian Abiodun Okubanjo, was not ready to talk about the issue.

 “I can’t speak to anybody now because I’m not in a good mood. I can’t answer anything unless it’s information that somebody has found the person we are looking for. When I find the person, then we can now talk,” the cleric said on Monday when contacted by The Gazette.

Though calls made to the contacts on a flyer publicising that 14-year-old Tobi based in Lagos State was missing were not answered when The Gazette on Monday and Tuesday, two other families later stated that their missing loved one had been found.

It was cheering for family members as Adediran Habeebullah, declared missing in Osogbo, Osun State, has been found. The disclosure was made by Sheu, who identified himself on the phone as a brother to Mr Habeebullah. He ended the call and didn’t pick subsequent calls made to the mobile.

However, Shuaibu Mohammed; a father to another missing person, Amirah Shuaibu, narrated to the Gazette how he found his daughter who went missing for five days.

“She was kidnapped for five days. Alihamdulilai, she’s in my house now. She has no injury, very okay, healthy, nothing happened to her,” Mr Shuaibu said, adding that “She was cooking when she saw her cloth fall from the fence. She then went to open the door when they saw her and told her that they were lost and asked her to show them the way. Immediately she came out, they used a handkerchief on her nose, and took her away.”

Mr Shuaibu explained that her daughter’s abductors did not demand ransom but first deceived them to travel to Niger State before releasing her to them in Abuja.

“We met the police the day she went missing. Yesterday (Sunday), around 4:00pm, somebody called me from somewhere saying that we should meet him in Diko in Niger State to take our daughter. We went there around 7 to 8pm till 10pm, but they didn’t come out. Then, this morning (Monday), they called back saying that we should give them fuel money and promised to drop our daughter somewhere. We gave them the fuel money. We then went to Anagada in Abuja, to pick her from where they dropped her on the road. My child is in my house now,” he said.

Spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, did not answer The Gazette’s call to his mobile seeking to know what the police were doing to address the cases of missing persons in the state.

Text and WhatsApp messages sent to his mobile on Wednesday were also not replied but an automated response read, “Sorry I can’t take this call right now.”
 

The Gazette also reached out to the spokesperson for the police in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso. His phone rang out twice. He did not pick the calls but sent a text asking our reporter to send him a text message. However, the text message sent to Mr Osifeso on Wednesday had yet to be replied as of the time this report wasb filed.

Contacted on Wednesday, Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, did not answer calls made to his mobile including text and WhatsApp messages sent as of press time.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in 2023 reported that “over 25,000 people have been reported missing in Nigeria due to conflict in northern Nigeria.

However, a year later, cases of missing persons in the country don’t suggest decline in the menace.

As Nigerians battle mounting economic hardships dominating headlines, the agony and trauma faced by families of missing persons linger until their loved ones are found.  

For these families, the struggle is not only about rising cost of living affecting every citizen but also the uncertainty about their missing loved ones as they cling to hope that soon they will reunite.