Woman, 58, Declared Missing in Abuja

Police headquarters 

Trauma heightened by suspense is what the family of Mrs. Gladys Nwosa, 58, are right now going through following her sudden disappearance. Nwosa has already been declared missing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as her whereabouts are yet to be ascertained, two weeks after she failed to return home from her business premises.

Perhaps the anxiety would have been less if it were an established case of kidnapping, wherein her release would have been largely dependent on reaching a deal with the abductors. But it is not.  Since September 27, when she went missing, nothing has been heard about her whereabouts till date.

The daughter of the missing woman, Miss Florence Nwosa, lamented the agony her family had gone through in the last fortnight to some journalists yesterday in Abuja, and called for the co-operation of the public in helping to locate their mother.

Florence who described her mother as tall, dark, kind, loving and a God-fearing woman who worked tirelessly to raise her children in the fear of God, lamented that all efforts to locate her are yet to yield result.

She also said her mother, who speaks Delta Igbo, Yoruba and English Languages fluently, has easy going and friendly personality, and is not known to have had squabbles with anybody.

She said that the elder Nwosa who resided in Karu, near Abuja, left home at about 9am on September 27 for her shop located at No. 3 City Centre Plaza, opposite Noble Heights Academy, Karu site, Abuja and had not been seen since then.

“The family members have taken steps to trace her but none of the efforts has yielded fruits and one of our brothers, Odinma, had on Saturday, September 29 gone to the Karu Police Station and reported the development with an extract issued by the Divisional Police Officer, J.G. Bakyu," she said.

Further checks revealed that a report of the missing woman was actually made at the Karu Police Station with entry made by W/CPL Balikisu Aliyu, while a source at the station also revealed that efforts were already being made by the police to locate her.

“We, the family members had gone to as far as checking with hospitals around to see whether she was involved in an accident and was brought to any of the hospitals to no avail. We are already traumatised by the development.

“We have done all we could to find my mother but up till now, we have not found her. Right from that fateful day, we have been trying her phone number but it has always told us ‘switched off’,” the daughter of the missing woman said.

Recalling what the mother’s daily routine had always been, Florence noted that, "There is no day my mother does not return home by 6pm, except days there is a programme in the church for her to attend. Initially, we even thought she went to church but when the time she normally returns had passed and she was nowhere to be found, we became restless.

“We even went to the church to crosscheck if there was a programme but there was none on that day. A report was later made to the police, who in turn sent a radio message to other formations regarding our complaint.”

Sounding helpless and confounded, she pleaded with the members of the public to assist her family in finding her mother.

"We urge Nigerians who may have information regarding the whereabouts of my mother to kindly contact any police station," she added.

So, what happened to Nwosa? Was she kidnapped or was she involved in a road accident? Was she a victim of ritualists? Could she have travelled suddenly without telling her family members? Did she suddenly miss her way? Did she step into a dangerous drain hole? Where is she?  Is she dead? Is she alive? The mystery surrounding her disappearance gets even more curious given that her mobile telephone line, by which she would have been tracked, has since that day, remained switched off.

There have been many cases of missing people in the country. While some have been found after some time, sometimes in very far locations from home, others were never found, thus lengthening the anxiety of their family members.