Mother cries out over missing 2-year-old child

The mother of a two-year-old missing child, Yakubu Mariam, has appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to prevail on officers in Ogun State to help in the search and rescue of her daughter, Amina.

City & Crime learnt that it is up to 15 days now since Amina went missing in the Ikorodu area of the state.

Mariam, who hails from Niger State, alleged that all efforts made to prevail on policemen at the Ayenogbe Police Station fell on deaf ears.

She said they bluntly told her that the child cannot be declared missing, until after 48 hours when she was last seen.

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“Up till now, the police are not doing anything about the issue. They told me that I may have sent my child to the roads. They said if the government refused to help us, we should help ourselves.

“Everyone in the neighbourhood is helping in the search. On the day of the incident, we went to Eyinogbe Police Station, they refused to listen to us. We later went to CP Tactical Squad at Araro but they told us that we should go back to Eyinogbe since it fell within Ogun State jurisdiction.

“We went to Eyinogbe immediately the incident happened and we were told to wait 24hours. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) even told us that it’s not their job. He claimed that their job is not to be looking for a missing person. He said their job is to handle anti cultism, murder and robbery,” she said. 

Amina’s father, Suleiman Yakubu, claimed that it was his neighbour who called to inform him about his missing child.

He said, “I got a call from a neighbour around 4pm on that fateful day. Then, I was around Ibafo. He told me to come back home quickly. That’s how I drove my bike to meet them.

“On arrival, I was told that they have searched everywhere and cannot find Amina so I started crying.”

He appealed to the IGP to prevail on his officers in Ogun State to intensify search for his child, noting that it’s been 15 days since his daughter was last seen.

Police in the area declined comment on the incident.