Police speak on alleged abandonment of missing student after tracking fee payment

The police in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, have denied allegations that they abandoned the search for a missing student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).

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The student, Flourish Uzodinma, has been missing since November 2024.

The police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, explained the stance of the police in a statement on Saturday.

How it began

A social media user, Ege Obetta, in a post on his X handle on Thursday night, raised an alarm that authorities of the Nsukka Urban Police Station had abandoned the search for the missing student.

The man, whose X profile said he is a lawyer, claimed the police authorities, on request, were paid N25,000 to track the missing student.

Mr Obetta claimed that after the payment, the police told the missing student’s father that they tracked the missing girl to Calabar, but could not continue because they had no contact with the police in Calabar.

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He also claimed that the police consequently asked the missing girl’s father to go to Calabar and rescue his daughter by himself.

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The social media user appealed to national police spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, to intervene in the matter.

Police speak

But Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, denied the allegations and described them as “misleading and baseless.”

The police spokesperson said Ms Uzodimma is an 18-year-old first-year Computer Robotics student in UNN.

He said the student left her parents’ residence in Owerre-Eze Orba, a community in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State on 28 November to an unknown destination.

Mr Ndukwe said although the father, Charles Uzodimma, approached the police and reported the matter on 3 December, he did not ask the police to rescue his daughter and was not asked to pay N25,000 tracking fee.

He said despite Mr Uzodimma’s insistence that the case be treated as “mere information,” the police initiated an investigation.

The spokesperson said Mr Uzodimma later independently engaged a private tracker whom he paid N25,000 for the tracking, but efforts to track his daughter’s mobile phone were unsuccessful because it was switched off.

He added that Mr Uzodimma later informed the police that Flourish was seen in a Facebook photograph with another girl whom he had warned her against associating with.

Mr Ndukwe said the other girl’s phone number was tracked to Calabar, Cross River State.

He did not confirm if the second tracking was carried out by the police and whether the parents paid for it.

The spokesperson was also silent on whether the police proceeded to the tracked location for possible rescue of the girl.

“Contrary to claims of police inaction, Mr Uzodimma stopped collaborating with the police, hampering the investigation,” Mr Ndukwe stated.

The police spokesperson said the case remains under investigation, although “progress has been hindered by the non-cooperation of Flourish’s parents.”