An 18-year-old dumb boy, named Somto
Orji, has been declared missing by his worried family members.
Some of the family members explained
that Somto was last seen leaving his parents’ home along 14 Akin Osiyemi Street,
off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The frantic mother of the boy, Ify,
said Somto disappeared on November 29, 2013.
According to her, Somto probably
went missing because he could not find his way back home, since they had only
recently moved to a new neighbourhood.
Ify who said she was not home when
Somto took off from the apartment, explained that her daughter told her that
Somto ran out of the apartment immediately the house boy opened the door to
allow his sister to come in.
“The house boy said he chased him to
some extent but let him go thinking that he would come back soon. However, when
I got back, my husband and other people started searching for him at 3.30pm. We
reported the matter at the Ikeja Police Division but we were told that missing
person report could only be made after 24 hours so we continued searching for
him,” said Ify.
She said that since Somto
disappearance, they had searched every nook and cranny of Ikeja axis.
The search party had also visited the
Lagos State Special Taskforce on Environmental to see if Somto might have been
arrested, but the attempt yielded no result.
Ify said that she and her husband
had also visited all the prisons in the state, all to no avail.
“We were told that the taskforce had
embarked on a raid the previous day so we visited their office at Alausa but we
were told that 47 had been taken to Badagry Prison. On getting to Badagry, 47
men were lined up for me to identify but my son was not among.
“Taskforce said 17 persons had been
taken to Ikoyi Prison so we made for Ikoyi but on getting there around 8pm, we
were told they had closed and we should come back the following day, which was
a Sunday.”
When they came back the following
day, the couple discovered that their son was not in Ikoyi and Kirikiri
prisons.
The woman said: “We went to Lagos State University Teaching
Hospital as well as the mortuary to search if my son was there but we did not
see him.”
Ify said that since search had since
been futile, she wanted members of the public to join in the search for Somto.
Crying like her heart would break,
Ify lamented: “My son was not born dumb but he suddenly lost his ability to
speak at the age of seven after convulsing. Due to his hyperactivity, he was
not able to stay in school and cannot write and doesn’t understand sign
language but he can hear. He is 5ft5 and has a chocolate skin colour. My first
child died of kidney disease during her first year in University of Lagos, I
cannot lose another child. My son cannot express himself. Please if you see
him, report to my home or the nearest police station or call 08036668085 or
08091512737
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