By Izunna Okafor, Awka
An Anambra-based family has cried out for help, following the mysterious disappearance of their daughter, Mrs. Chidera Okenyi, and her two children, who have been missing since March 2022 after travelling with a man who claimed he wanted to marry her.
According to the Okenyi family, Chidera, who hails from Ebonyi State but lives with her family in Awka-Etiti, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, was last seen in Awka-Etiti, before she reportedly travelled with the said suitor.
The suitor, it was gathered, hails from Enugu State but resident in Imo State, and had earlier visited Chidera’s family in Awka-Etiti to formally express his intentions of marrying their daughter.
Speaking in an interview with this reporter, Chidera’s elder sister, Amuche Okenyi, who is based in Lagos State, said the suitor met with their parents and Chidera when he visited them in their Awka-Etiti home to covey his intention, reportedly looking sincere, polite and convincing.
Quoting her parents, Amuche said after the discussion, the suitor told them that he would like to take Chidera to his place, to meet his own people and also know where he lives, so that any day she wants to come and visit his family, she could do so without worrying about direction.
According to Amuche, trusting the man’s words and believing he had genuine intentions, the family allowed Chidera to go with him, alongside her two young children, since she herself also expressed interest to go with him. And, tragically, that was the last time they saw or heard from them.
In her words, the several efforts so far made by her, her parents and other family members to locate Chidera and her children proved abortive, and have been marred by challenges.
One of their biggest challenges, she said, stems from the fact that Chidera did not go with her phone, as she dropped it with her mum before leaving, alongside the phone number of the said suitor.
While acknowledging that she heard about someone expressing interest in marrying her sister, Amuche said she was not aware of the visit by the suitor and the situation that resulted thereafter, until her parents later notified her about that, after they had waited for long without seeing or hearing from Chidera, causing restlessness for them.
Worse even, Amuche said by the time she got to know about the situation, she was robbed of her phone, of which, after she retrieved her SIM card through welcome back, she could no longer see the suitor’s phone number, indicating that she only saved it on her phone, and not on SIM.
Continuing, she said her mother also lost her own phone, making it impossible for them to get/access the suitor’s phone number again, hence, aggravating the entire thing.
“Since that time till today, we have been running around and making effort to see my sister and her two little children, all to no avail,” she lamented.
When asked whether they had reported the matter to the police, Amuche said they were yet to do so, explaining that they were being hopeful that they would return, only that the whole thing is now taking longer time than they expected, which was why they now decided to raise an alarm in the media.
According to her, in reaction to the alarm raised and picture shared in the media about the situation, someone sometime called her, told her that she saw Chidera somewhere at Enugu, and demanded the sum of seventy thousand (N70,000) to bring her back to them.
“However, I requested him to send me the picture of the person he said he saw to confirm that she is actually my sister, but he did not and insisted that I must send him the N70,000 first before anything,” she stated, noting that this was how the discussion with the person eventually ended.
While reiterating their call for members of the public and relevant agencies to assist in reuniting the Okenyi Family with their missing children, Amuche further revealed that she would be coming down to the East again soonest to lodge necessary reports at the necessary places and also expedite action towards locating and rescuing her sister and the young children.
“If you see her at your neighbourhood or knows her whereabouts please contact👇👇
09061151571 or 09040615177,” the sister concluded.
According to Amuche, until the incident happened, Chidera, the 8th child of the family, who should be 25 years old by now, was hawking moi-moi at Afọr Nnobi, which was where the said suitor reportedly met her.
When contacted by this reporter, Izunna Okafor, for his reactions, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, SP Toochukwu Ikenga said he was not aware of the incident.
