By Izunna Okafor, Awka
A five-year-old girl, Adanna Faith Ezike, has been declared missing after she was allowed by her mother to follow strangers in return for a plate of pepper soup.
The father of the missing child, Mr. Nnamdi Ezike, confirmed this in an interview with this reporter, Izunna Okafor, on Monday, during which he also lamented that the incident has thrown the family into serious disarray and restlessness since its occurrence earlier this month.
According to him, the incident occured at Aku community in Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State where his family lives.
It was gathered that the two strangers made away with the little girl in the afternoon after buying a plate of pepper soup for her mother, Mrs. Ifeoma Ezike.
Recounting how it happened, Mr. Ezike, who noted that he does not live in Aku with his family, but resides Nsukka, where he hustles to sustain them, explained that he got to know about the incident when he called his wife as usual to check on them, only to start hearing the shocking narrative from the wife, who told him that it actually happened the previous day and that that she didn’t know how to inform him about that.
According to him, his wife narrated to him how two ladies, who had been frequent customers at her provision shop for about a week since they lodged in a nearby hotel, offered to buy pepper soup for her and her daughter, Adanna. He said the wife obliged and permitted Adanna to follow the women to the pepper soup shop, thinking they were trustworthy, especially relying on their regular patronage and their frequenting of her shop
Continuing, he said he was told that the women took the girl to a nearby shop, owned by a man called Ovoko, where they purchased the pepper soup and instructed Adanna to take her mother’s portion to her where she was at her shop and then return to them afterwards.
“My daughter took the pepper soup to her mother and went back to the two ladies; and that was the last time anyone saw her till date. Since then, she’s been missing, and nobody seems to know where they took her to,” Mr. Ezike recounted in Igbo language.
While noting that he was devastated when he received the news and immediately travelled back to Aku, he further revealed that some neighbours and other community members he spoke with confirmed seeing the two women visiting his wife’s provision shop frequently. He, however said none of the ladies has ever been sighted in the area since after that incident, while the whereabouts of their daughter remains unknown.
“Our neighbours said my wife may have only agreed because the ladies appeared friendly, without ever imagining that they could have such malicious intentions,” he said (also in Igbo language).
Continuing, he recalled that Adanna just started her primary school education recently, which he said he just finished registering for her admission recently and returned to Nsukka to continue his hustle, only to start hearing the devastating story of her disappearance after a short while.
When asked the efforts so far made towards securing Adanna’s safe return, Mr. Ezike explained that reports had been lodged with the police and other relevant agencies, adding that the Anti-Kidnapping Unit is already aware of the situation. He also revealed that authorities had arrested the hotel owner as part of the ongoing investigation, while the women’s identities, phone numbers, and locations have remained unknown, unreachable, and difficult to track.
Mr. Ezike, while lamenting that Adanna is his only daughter, passionately appealed to the members of the public to help him in finding his beloved daughter, pleading that anyone who finds her or has any useful information about her whereabouts should contact him on 07016701195 or report to the nearest police station.
“Adanna is our only daughter, and her sudden disappearance has left us in deep distress. We have searched everywhere we can think of without success.
“I beg anyone who has any information about her whereabouts or sees anyone who fits their description to please contact me on 07016701195 or report to the nearest police station. My daughter is just five years old and means everything to me. I can’t bear the thought of something bad happening to her. We are desperate to have our daughter back. She’s just a child and innocent. Please, help me bring Adanna back home,” Mr. Ezike passionately appealed, struggling to hold back his emotions.
Efforts by this reporter, Izunna Okafor, to get the confirmation and reactions of the Police Public Relations Officer of the Enugu State Police Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on the incident, proved abortive, as he was yet to respond to the message of inquiries sent to him by this report after an unsuccessful phone call.
