A man identified as Fouad Willoughby has cried out over the sudden disappearance of his three-year-old son, Abdul-Muqseet Willoughby, during the Eid festival on Sunday at his family house in Ajagun Lane, Lagos Island area of Lagos.
Willoughby told PUNCH Metro on Monday that his son went missing after they arrived from the Eid prayer ground.
He disclosed that he left his son in the compound with his family members and went to assist with the ram slaughtering. He panicked that residents in the neighborhood were not familiar with the missing child, so it might have frustrated the search.
“I do not live in Lagos. I only came for the Salah holiday at my parents’ house. When we came back from the Eid prayer ground, I was busy with the ram slaughtering. The setting he was last seen in is a big compound (Agbole), and a lot of people kill their rams in each house as well.
“He was seen sitting with my mother and nephew, who is a little child as well. My mother is not physically fit, so she did not know when he left her side. My wife came with him to the family house that morning. No one knows him around, he is new here, unlike his elder brother, who has friends here, and he is known by residents here.
“I noticed his disappearance around 10 a.m., so I raised an alarm immediately and informed people in the vicinity. We visited different mosques just to look for him. I also went to the Adeniji Police Station to make a report. Some of my friends have gone to the radio station, while some who are bloggers have started posting his photo. I cannot go back to Ilorin without him, because I came with six children,” Willoughby said.
Efforts to contact the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, for a reaction proved abortive, as he did not respond to calls or texts sent to him as of the time of filling this report.
PUNCH Metro reported that a nine-year-old girl, identified simply as Patience, who went missing at Rotras Crescent in the Meiran area of Lagos State, was found in the Sango-Ota area of Ogun State following a report.
The guardians of the minor sought help to locate her whereabouts eight days after her disappearance was reported at the police division in the area.