3 Boys Mysteriously Go Missing In Ilaje, Olodi Apapa (Photos)

No fewer than three boys have been declared missing in Ilaje
Quarters in the Olodi Apapa area of Lagos State.

Punch Metro learnt that the missing boys, who were of school
age – four-year-old Nliam Tobechukwu, Olanrewaju Obazuaye, 3, and Sunday David,
4, were reported missing at separate times at the Tolu Police Division.

A Punch correspondent learnt that after the latest incident
which occurred on Friday, March 25, 2016, residents suspected that there was a
syndicate monitoring their children and stealing them without arousing
suspicion.

It was gathered that the boys went missing while playing in
front of their houses.

Punch Metro learnt that the first victim, Olanrewaju, was
discovered missing on Sunday, November 22, 2015, while playing in front of his
father’s house on John Ladipo Street.

It was gathered that in December 2015, David went missing on
the same street. Also, in February 2016, another unidentified boy was reported
to have gone missing on Ayorinde Street.

On March 25, 2016, 
Tobechukwu got missing while playing in front of his father’s rented
apartment on Iheanacho Street.

Punch learnt that all the missing boys lived in Ilaje
Quarters in the Olodi Apapa area.

It was gathered that residents were now living in fear as
the police had yet to find any of the missing boys and had yet to make any
arrest.

Tobechukwu’s father, Nliam Cyprian, from Imo State, told Punch
Metro that he had gone to all the police stations under the Area B Command,
Apapa, to write statements on his missing boy.

He said, “It was around 4.30pm on that Friday. I was not at
home. I was at a football viewing centre. Tobechukwu and his siblings were
playing with their mummy in front of our house. When his mother went in and
came out some 30 minutes later, she discovered the boy had gone missing.

“His elder brother, Uzor, said he left him in front of the
house when he went to run an errand. It was around 6pm that my wife called to
inform me on the telephone. She reported the matter at the Tolu Police Division
the same day.

“We live in a storeyed-building and Tobechukwu had gone to
neighbouring streets in the past to play with friends. He is in the
kindergarten. He is the fourth of my five children. I have also gone to the
police stations at Orile, Amukoko and Trinity, as well as the Area B Command,
Apapa.

“A lot of people know him because he is friendly. I have
also been to the state Police Public Relations Department, Ikeja, and it sent a
signal out on the incident.”

Olanrewaju’s father, Zion Obazuaye, told Punch that his boy
was also playing in front of the house when he was discovered missing.

He said, “I was not around on that day. I went to the Apapa
area to collect some money from a friend. It was around 5pm that my wife called
me on the telephone and said Olanrewaju was missing. He is just three.

“The boy was playing with other children. It was when the
mother came out to bathe him and others and take them to church around 5pm that
she discovered he was nowhere to be found.

“The shocking thing is after the incident, about three
similar incidents have occurred in this area. He is my second child. The mother
is still disturbed.”

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Punch Metro
that there were some people in the community believed to be working for child
abductors.

He enjoined the police to beam their searchlights on Ilaje
Quarters and unravel where the schoolboys were taken to.

He said, “There are some insiders in our area. The time of
abduction is usually when the children are playing in front of their houses or
when their parents must have gone out. We do not know who could be the
informant for the abductors.

“Within Ilaje Quarters, also known as James Mobolaji Johnson
Quarters, child abduction has reached an unbearable peak. I expect the police
to come to our area and investigate the cartel stealing our children.

“In March 2016, a woman took an apprentice, and three days
later, she left her seven-month baby with the apprentice, who later escaped
with the child.”

 The Lagos State
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed that Tobechukwu
was missing.

She said, “Investigation is ongoing.”