A 7-year-old girl, Mercy Akande, the daughter of a female Point-of-Sale operator in Ogun State, was reportedly abducted by an unidentified man.
The incident, which took place on Monday, December 23, 2024, has sparked widespread concern on the social media platform, X, with many Nigerians calling for reforms to tackle corruption within the Nigeria Police Force.
Details of the abduction were shared on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, by a user identified as Miyakee, tweeting under the handle #mimara_concept.
According to Miyakee, the alleged kidnapper was a frequent customer of the POS operator and had built a seemingly friendly rapport with Mercy, often buying her food and giving her money during his visits.
Events took a dark turn on Monday morning when the man reportedly sent Mercy to buy him a sachet of water. Upon her return, he intercepted her halfway. Mercy’s mother, who noticed this interaction, felt uneasy but was preoccupied with her customers and couldn’t intervene immediately.
Moments later, the man and her daughter were nowhere to be found.
Sharing the incident on social media, Miyakee wrote, “My cousin is missing. She was kidnapped by a stranger on the 23rd of December, 2024. The mom, my aunty, does POS business at Sango, Ogun State. She has a male customer who usually comes to withdraw money and buy recharge cards.
“He doesn’t stay in the area. He became friends with the little girl and was always buying her food and gifting her money whenever he came to the store. On the morning of the 23rd, he came to the store and bought food for himself and the little girl as usual. The mom was busy attending to other customers.
“He sent the little girl (a 7-year-old girl) to go get pure water for him. On her way back, he approached her halfway to get the pure water from her. The mom saw this and wasn’t comfortable with it but was distracted by the attention of other customers.
“By the time she turned towards the daughter’s direction to check what was happening, the guy and her daughter were nowhere to be found. They searched everywhere for them but to no avail. She tried calling the customer (she had his phone number). He picked up and said he was at Sango under the bridge and that he was going to call her back. Up till now, he has refused to answer his call. Now the number is no longer reachable. We still cannot find my cousin. This is the phone number of my aunt’s customer, the kidnapper: 07072823833.”
Miyakee further revealed that the family reported the incident to a police station in Sango but were met with demands for N40,000 to proceed with the case—N10,000 for filing the report and N30,000 to track the suspect’s phone number.
“#Princemoye1, #BenHundeyin, they have reported to a police station in Sango and the struggling mum has been asked to pay a total of N10,000 to report the case (she has done that). And to bring N30,000 for the guy’s phone number to be tracked. She’ll be going back there tomorrow to pay.
“As it is now, work hasn’t even started. She only paid N8,000 to write her statement at the station and a total of N2,000 to print out pictures of the missing girl. Then to track the phone number, she has to pay the sum of N30,000 and get a court affidavit to take to MTN’s office.
“Now, she can’t get a court affidavit because of the holidays. So, we’re waiting for the 27th to pay the N30,000 and get the court affidavit. Omo, it’s crazy,” the tweep lamented.
When contacted for comments, Omolola Odutola, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, stated via SMS, “I’ll get back to you.” Meanwhile, Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi, tweeting as #Princemoye1, responded to the situation and condemned the monetary demands by police officers as “inhuman and unprofessional.”
“For a missing person? Asking for money to track? That’s inhuman and unprofessional. Let the family get to me pls. I need to handle it myself. Let them Send me an SMS on my line. Thanks,” Adejobi assured.
