Blind mother appeals for help after her baby disappeared

A visually impaired mother has appealed to well wishers and the police to help her in the search of her missing one-year-old baby.

Agnes Forte, a resident of Akowonjo area of Lagos State in Nigeria has appealed to the government of Nigeria and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fayoade Adegoke, to help her find the missing baby.

Speaking to The Punch on Sunday, December 31, 2023, Agnes said her child disappeared on November 28, 2023 in unclear circumstances.

Nigerian president Bola Tinubu. Photo: Punch

She disclosed that the disappearance of her daughter had caused a lot of suffering to her family.

“Since Excel went missing, my husband and I have never been ourselves. I feel more pain because of my condition which has made it impossible for me to join the search for her whereabouts.

“The day the incident happened, we reported it to the police station. They asked us to write a statement; we have not heard anything since then.

“They have not even visited our place. The officers we met at the station we went to around the Shasha area during the search told us that the police station we first reported the incident to should have radioed the information the moment we reported it, saying that would have given us a chance to locate their whereabouts.

“It looks like the police are not taking our case seriously because we are poor. We are calling on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to please intervene in our case,” she said.

During an earlier interview with The Punch on December 10, 2023, Agnes said that Excel was playing with her 13-year-old stepsister named Joy before she went missing.

The mother explained that she got worried after she failed to hear voices of her baby playing.

She said, “We had just finished eating when my baby opened the door and stepped outside to play.

That was when I called Joy to go and bring her back. But she refused to come in when my sister tried to bring her back. So, I told them not to go beyond the corridor.

“A few minutes later, Joy came inside and went out again to meet Excel. Then, I started to hear her sing, “Jumping, jumping” three times and I did not hear them again. After a while, I called their names and none of them answered.

“I had to quickly call my neighbours who looked around but did not see them. I quickly woke my first daughter who was sleeping on the bed because she was not feeling fine.

“I told her to help me go out and look for Joy and Jessica. The moment I opened my bag to pick up something, I discovered my money and ATM card had been taken. I also got to know that she had packed some of her clothes.

“Jessica later came back home to tell me that she saw Joy running away. I alerted the neighbours again and they went around but did not see them.”