Police collect N4,500 to find missing teenagers

Daniel and Channing

The parents of two teenagers in the Solomade, Ikorodu area of Lagos State, have been devastated after the duo suddenly went missing while running errands.

It was learnt that 17-year-old Channing Odugbo and Daniel, 19, had been sent on separate errands on Wednesday, September 9, by their father, Moses.

They were said to have been unreachable ever since and efforts by their parents to locate them had been unproductive.

Policemen from the Igbogbo Police Division were said to have collected N4,500 from the family as payment for writing materials to report the case, and sending of signals to surrounding divisions to track the missing kids.

Our correspondent learnt that the family had finished morning prayers on the fateful day when Moses, a businessman, asked Daniel to withdraw some money from the nearest Automated Teller Machine.

Moses said, “Daniel was preparing for his UTME, so after the devotion, I called him to help me to withdraw N5,000 from the ATM. It was not his first time of going there to withdraw money.

“The walking distance between my house and the ATM is about 10minutes to and fro. But I observed that he didn’t return about 30 minutes later and I called his telephone. He said there was no money in the ATM and he had gone to another place.”

Moses said he later called Channing to get some tins of milk from a shop three houses away.

The Ogoja, Cross River State indigene, explained that he had warned the 17-year-old, who was his younger brother’s child, not to stay long.

“But 20 minutes later, he didn’t return. I called Daniel and his phone rang for some time, but he didn’t pick it. About some minutes later, the phone was switched off.

“I went to the woman selling the milk to know if she saw Channing and she said the two boys were in her shop to buy some tins of milk. She said afterwards, she noticed they walked in the opposite direction, instead of coming to the house,” he added.

He said the two children had not taken their bath or eaten as of the time they went missing, adding that he was surprised when they did not return home throughout that day because such had never happened before.

The family was said to have reported the matter at the Sagamu Road Police Division, from where they were directed to the Igbogbo Police Division.

Moses alleged that the police extorted money from him to make his statement and send signals to find the children.

He said, “At the station, I met a woman and she asked if I could write the statement myself and I said yes. She said I have to pay for the writing materials and I gave her N200. But she rejected the money and said it was too small.

“I then gave her N500 and she took down the statement. She asked me to go to the back of the building. A man there told me that they would need the children’s photos and money to send signal to all the surrounding divisions.

“He said I will pay N1, 000 for every signal. I had to return home to raise N4,000 which I paid for the signal.”

Moses said he was disappointed when he discovered that the policemen had swindled him as he didn’t see any proof that the signal was sent.

He added that the policewoman at the station had started ignoring his telephone calls.

He said he went round other police stations and his efforts were abortive.

“I later reported to the Ijede Police Division where I met a policeman who helped me to send the signal without collecting any money from me. Right there, I could hear as the message was being radioed. The Igbogbo police are a fraud; despite the money they collected, they didn’t do anything,” he said.

Daniel’s mother, Regina, pleaded that the children should be released by their captors, saying that the family had yet to be contacted by anyone.

“I really need to wake up from this bad dream. How do you describe a situation where one morning you see your children only for them to go missing mysteriously? I appeal to all Nigerians to assist me in bringing them back home,” she said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, DSP Joe Offor, said in a text message that he was not aware of the incident.

He said, “I am now aware, please.”