It was a pathetic situation for the household of Mrs. Victoria Enobabor, a widow, as their four-year-old girl, Victoria, has gone missing since Friday from their residence at NEPA bus-stop, Jakande Estate, Ejigbo, leaving the family in a state of confusion.
According to Mrs. Enobabor who is the father’s relative, efforts by the family to know the whereabouts of the girl have been abortive despite reporting the incident at Iyana Ejigbo, Ago Palace and Ailegun police stations.
She said: “Victoria’s father is my elder brother’s granddaughter and she was given to me to take care since when she was six months old. I named her after me because of the relationship I have with the father. I have a shop in the neighbourhood where I operate a grinding machine. I left her at home in the morning to go to the shop, asking my 16-year-old son to take care of her. He gave her breakfast and left her in the house before he went to do other things.
“In the afternoon when my daughter got back from school, she met her playing downstairs with our neighbours’ children at about 4:00p.m. But after a while, I asked my daughter how Victoria was fairing but she told me that they weren’t together. That was when the search began. We have reported the case at the police station but we haven’t heard anything from them.”
Victoria hinted that when she got to the police station, it was discovered that there have been a series of missing children from the neighbourhood already lodged. “Please, Victoria must not get lost. Today is the fourth day. God should help me as I am a widow.”
In the same vein, there have been several reports of missing children at Ajegunle area of Lagos. In a post on Facebook by one Gbenga Olufemi, who is the admin of Ajegunle Voice Group, he lamented the sudden disappearance of children in the area.
“Our lives in Ajegunle are under serious threat. A month ago, a woman was caught with a stolen baby and was handed over to the police after a thorough beating, we didn’t hear anything about it till this moment. As if that is not enough, on Saturday, another baby was stolen while going to her sibling’s graduation in school. Today again another baby has been stolen and the case is presently at Pako police station.
“This particular community has become a safe harbour to criminally-minded individuals owning to our leaders’ lackadaisical attitude to the people’s plights. For how long shall we continue to live in fear? For how long shall we continue to sleep with a single eye close? The security situation in Ajegunle is getting worse by the day,” he lamented.
The Guardian
