By Okechukwu Obeta
The Anambra State Police Command has expressed concern over the rate school children go missing in the state currently.
The public relations officer (PRO) of the state police command, Mr Haruna Mohammed in a statement yesterday stated that the command received a report at the Ogbaru Division of the state police command, from a resident, one Jude Ebiowu that his daughter, named Nmachukwu, aged three years, was missing from her school.
He urged parents and guardians to be extra-vigilant over their children and wards, and recalled that just a week ago, two children from the same parents, Chidera and Kamsiyochukwu Iloka, male and female respectively missed from their school.
Describing the development as developing trend, the command urged parents and guardians to be “extra vigilant” on their children’s whereabouts.
Mohammed, who described the development as worrisome, further urged school proprietors to take extra security measures to protect their pupils.
The statement reads in part, “Today 17/7/2018 at about 0900hrs, one Jude Ebiowu male of Okoti reported at Ogbauru Division that his daughter named Nmachukwu Ebiowu aged three years of the same address left home in company of her mother one Juliana Ebiowu for graduation ceremony in their school ‘The light International School Okoti .
“As the ceremony went on the mother noticed her ( daughter’s) disappearance and all efforts to find her proved abortive. She is fair in complexion, speaks Igbo fluently and without tribal mark.
“It would be recalled that similar incident occurred last week at Awka where one Chidera Iloka male aged four years and Kamsiyochukwu Iloka female aged two years all students of Igwedinma Primary School Amawbia and children of one Ezekwere Chinonso Rosemary of Number 3,Chidozie Street in Amawbia also got missing from the school.
“The report was lodged at CPS Awka and investigation is ongoing to ascertain circumstances surrounding their disappearance and possible trace.
“In view of the emergent trends of missing persons in the state, parents and guardians are strongly urged to be extra vigilant of their children’s whereabouts and caution them to be wary of strangers.
“In the same vein, school proprietors are equally enjoined to take extra security measures to safeguard their pupils and release them to only parents or duly authorised persons in order to forestall similar ugly incidents.”