Police Allegedly Demand Tracking Fee To Find 7-Year-Old Kidnap Victim

7-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped in Ogun State, Police Allegedly Demand Payment for Investigation

A 7-year-old girl named Mercy Akande has reportedly been abducted in Ogun State, Nigeria, by a man described as a familiar customer of her mother’s Point-of-Sale (POS) business. The incident occurred on December 23, 2024, and it has sparked widespread outrage on social media, particularly concerning the perceived corruption within the Nigeria Police Force.

The disturbing details were shared in a tweet by a user named Miyakee, who highlighted that the suspect, who had developed a rapport with the young girl through visits to the POS, often bought her snacks and occasionally gave her gifts. The individual, who is said to not live in the area, frequently interacted with Mercy while purchasing items from her mother’s business.

According to Miyakee’s account, the suspect sent Mercy on an errand to fetch a sachet of water on the morning of the kidnapping. As she was returning, the man reportedly intercepted her, leading to the concerns of her mother, who was occupied with other customers at the time. Tragically, by the time Mercy’s mother turned around to check, both Mercy and the man had vanished.

In a series of tweets, Miyakee shared, “My cousin is missing. She was kidnapped by a stranger on December 23, 2024, while my aunt was running her POS business in Sango, Ogun State. The man, a regular customer, had shown a friendly demeanor toward my cousin, routinely buying her food and giving her money during his visits. On that fateful morning, he sent her to get water and approached her midway as she returned. Her mother, distracted, was unable to stop the incident. By the time she looked up, they had both disappeared.”

Following the incident, Mercy’s mother tried reaching the suspect by phone, and he initially answered, claiming to be at Sango under the bridge, promising to return her call. However, he soon became unreachable, prompting an immediate search that yielded no results.

Miyakee also detailed that the family reported the incident to the local police, who allegedly requested a total of N40,000—comprising N10,000 for lodging the report and N30,000 for tracking the suspect’s phone. “The struggling mother was told to pay N10,000 to file the report, which she managed to do,” Miyakee explained. “Additionally, she was pressured to provide N30,000 to facilitate the phone tracking, which she plans to pay after the holidays, as she is currently unable to obtain necessary court documentation.”

Despite her attempts to address the matter through law enforcement, Mercy’s family encounters bureaucratic hurdles and financial demands, with Miyakee lamenting the absurdity of their situation.

The Ogun State Police Command’s spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, responded to inquiries via text but did not provide further information. Conversely, Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi took to social media, expressing shock at the reported fees demanded by officers. He described the requests for cash as “inhuman and unprofessional” and encouraged Mercy’s family to contact him directly for assistance. “For a missing person? Asking for money to track? That’s inhuman and unprofessional,” Adejobi tweeted. “Let the family reach out to me, as I need to handle this personally.”

As the search for Mercy continues, the incident sheds light on larger concerns regarding the integrity and responsiveness of Nigerian law enforcement agencies in crises of this nature.