Christopher Oji
The family of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Cynthia Amarchi Nwawuike, has cried to the police and other security agencies to help find their daughter who left Ibadan for Lagos since March but has not returned home.
Twenty five-year-old Amarachi boarded a vehicle from Ibadan to Lagos, where she hoped to spend the weekend with her parents on March 15, but has not been seen since then. The political science graduate from the University of Lagos, who was undergoing her one-year mandatory national service in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, was said to have boarded a commercial vehicle at Iwo road, on the fateful day.
Her friends who expected a call from her on arrival in Lagos became worried when they didn’t hear from her and their consistent calls to her were neither picked nor returned.
Her mother, Mrs. Constance Nwawike, a primary school teacher, who narrated the family ordeals amid tears, said: “On that fateful day, I called my daughter’s number but it was switched off. I thought it was network problem. I didn’t call again. On Monday, I called the number again but there was no response. I continued for three days without response. I then alerted my husband. It brought tension on everybody in the family.
“The entire household was in tears and even my younger daughter expressed surprise that her elder sister, Cynthia, did not wish her well on her birthday which took place that weekend. Suddenly, somebody called from her service centre and said that they were looking for her; that was seven days after the she embarked on the journey. The NYSC state coordinator also called and reported that they have not seen her after she travelled home. Shocked at the unfolding drama, I also informed them that she did not return to our home at Ikorodu. I made further enquiry from the coordinator, who said her friend, also a corps member told them that she travelled to meet us in Lagos and since then, she has been calling her number without reply. I asked the man to give me the lady’s number. I talked to the lady and she said that she has been trying to reach me. In fact, that Saturday, I wasn’t myself. I went to Ikorodu Police Station, where I reported the case. They said that I should go to Ibadan because the lady made it known that she took Ibadan -Iwo road and when she got a vehicle going to Ikorodu straight, that they had a conversation.
“I am appealing to the Inspector-General of Police, other security agencies and members of the public to help me search for my daughter. We cannot be at peace until her whereabouts are known. Please, help me. I am devastated. The police are economical with the truth. Let the IGP wade in so that the police officers investigating the case will open up on what really happened.”