The family of Osas Azenabor, who was reportedly arrested by the police on November 1, 2024, at the Mile 12 area of Lagos State, has appealed to the Nigeria Police Force and the public for help in locating their missing son.
According to the family, their son was taken to the Ketu Police Station and has not returned home since.
Saturday PUNCH gathered from the family that the 40-year-old Osas was one of the people arrested by the police during a raid in the Mile 12 area of the state.
His father, Francis Azenabor, told our correspondent that Osas whereabouts had remained unknown after he was arrested.
The father pleaded with the police to produce his son, stating that he was in their custody before he went missing.
“Nigerians should help me so the police can bring my son out because I don’t know where to go,” he said.
Narrating how Osas went missing, the father said, “On November 1, 2024, my son’s wife called to inform me that my son told her that he was arrested by the police during a raid at Mile 12 and was taken to Ketu Police Station. He told his wife that she should come and bail him before the police took him away.
“My son is a transporter. When they took him to Ketu Police Station, a man he usually helps saw him inside a mini-bus with handcuffs. The man went and asked what the matter was and gave my son a phone to contact his wife immediately. My son told his wife to come and bail him at Ketu Police Station.”
He stated that the police had taken his son away before the wife got to Ketu Police Station from Ikorodu.
The father further stated that his daughter-in-law went to the counter at the station to report that she was looking for her husband.
According to him, the wife was told by the policemen on duty that her husband was not at the station, asking her to check Ogudu or any other police station to inquire further.
He said, “She went to other stations, but there was no record of her husband there as well. The following day, which was Sunday, the mother and I went to Oshodi Police Station. They said it was not possible for them to have arrested people in Ketu and brought them to their station. We searched everywhere but still couldn’t find him. We went to Badagry Prison and Kirikiri, but we still didn’t find him.”
Francis revealed that an eyewitness, who helped Osas contact his wife and informed her of the situation, confirmed that he was brought to Ketu Police Station.
“The man whose phone my son used to call showed me the police officer who held my son at Ketu Police Station. I saw the officer at a Baba Ijebu shop (local lottery shop). I went to meet him, and as soon as he saw me, he started quarrelling. He didn’t allow me to speak because he recognized me as Osas’s father. When you see me, you see my son. I had already spoken to the Divisional Police Officer about this matter, but nothing came out of it,” said the father.
Corroborating the father’s claim, Osas’s wife, Rose Azenabor, said her missing husband told her that he was arrested and taken to Ketu Police Station but that she couldn’t find him when she got there.
Speaking to our correspondent, Osas’s mother, Ruth Azenabor, expressed bitterness, pleading that the police should produce her son.
“They should help me find my son; I am begging,” she said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, told Saturday PUNCH to send a text message when contacted for comment on the matter.
The message was sent, but Hundeyin had not responded to it as of the time of filing this report.