The police in Lagos are battling to find a 13-
year-old girl, Chikwuo Ezennia, who reportedly
fled her house with a yet-to-be-identified man,
suspected to be her lover.
Ezennia, who is in
Basic 4, had come to Lagos from Nneni village in
the Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra
State to spend her holiday with her relation .
The girl,
however, fled her relatives’ apartment on Ishola
Bello Close, Iyalla Street, Alausa, Lagos, in the
afternoon of Thursday, November 20, when the
family had gone out.
It was gathered that when the girl’s aunt, Mrs.
Ambrose Okolo, and her husband returned from
work at about 6pm, Ezennia was nowhere to be
found.
Our correspondent gathered that during the initial
search for her, some neighbours told the Okolos
that they saw the teenager walking away with a
man in the afternoon.
Ezennia was said to have told the neighbours
that her aunt maltreated her and had travelled
away for a week. Hence, she would be staying
with a friend during that period.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the family reported the
matter at the Alausa Police Division the following
day. It was gathered that the police invited some
persons, who allegedly saw the girl, for
interrogation.
Our correspondent gathered that Ezennia, who
speaks only Igbo fluently, was supposed to
return to her village by the end of December. It
was further learnt that Ezennia had a record of
fleeing home to stay with men when she was in
the village in Anambra.
Okolo, who is a self-employed
chartered accountant, said the family was
anxious to know the supposed lover, who had
been shielding the girl, adding that all efforts to
locate her had proved unsuccessful.
She said, “Ezennia is just 13, but she looks big
enough to be called a man’s wife. If you see her,
you will think she is a lady. She just came from
the village to spend some time with us and she
is supposed to go back this December. But since
that Thursday, we have yet to find her.
“The reason I suspect she may be with a lover is
because of some recent developments. Just a
week before that incident, I travelled to Benue for
a programme, and she was alone with my
children in the house. There is a phone that my
children use which contains only my number and
my husband’s.
“But when she fled home and we started the
search, I picked up the phone and to my surprise,
I saw a string of strange numbers.
“The children said Ezennia used the phone when
I travelled.
“I wondered who she might have been calling
since she is new in Lagos.”
calls and text
messages sent to the numbers by the family
since the day of the incident had not been
replied to.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,
DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He said Ezennia was still on the police’s list of
missing persons.
“If seen, the public should contact Alausa Police
Station,” he added.
Punch.
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