Shock as policeman’s daughter disappears inside police barracks

Juliana Francis

BLESSING

Shock has greeted the disappearance of 16 years old Blessing Patrick from the Sango police barracks in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The disappearance of Blessing, which had become the talk of the town, has been described as shocking. Many wondered how the senior secondary student (SS3) could have vanished from the barracks, which was supposed to be among the most secured places in the state.

The girl was said to have been last seen in April after returning from school.

“Blessing returned from school on that fateful day and dropped her bag inside her parents’ apartment in the barracks. Her father is an Inspector, but since her return from school, nobody had seen her. Her mother and father have been paying money to pastors and spiritualists so they could locate her but to no avail,” said a source.

The girl’s distraught mom said: “I don't know where to look for her.  I have gone to all her friends’ houses to look for her, but she is not there. We have called her phone and sometimes it rings out, but she does not pick up. Sometimes, the phone will not ring. I reported her disappearance to the Sango Police Station and they took her name and phone number and told me to come back but nothing had been done since to locate her. I went to see the Oyo State Commissioner of Police and she asked me to return to the Sango police station. I have been crying; I need to know where my daughter is. We have spent money to track her, and as I'm talking to you, we are financially down. I cannot concentrate on anything. I'm like a mad person. I'm like a living corpse. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I need the government to help me locate my daughter. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. She is supposed to be preparing for her SSCE exams and we have paid, but she’s missing. I can't eat or sleep. I keep losing collapsing. Please I need help.”

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, CP, Ngozi Onadeko said: “The father of this girl is an Inspector of police, and he should know what to do. The police are not a magician. The person to do the tracking of her number will collect money and then you will say the police are asking for money. She should go back to the Sango police station and tell them she has come to see me. As a journalist, you can also help us publicise she’s missing.”