Brenda, the sister of 13-year-old Treasure Ofuya, has accused men of the Delta State Police Command of allegedly demanding a bribe before embarking on a search-and-rescue mission to find her missing sister.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the minor was on her way back home from school when she suddenly went missing on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, and efforts to locate her whereabouts had proved abortive since then.
The victim’s mother, Faith, while lamenting her sudden disappearance, had said she had a misunderstanding with Treasure over the misuse of her phone and the possession of a Subscriber Identity Module card.
In a bid to locate the whereabouts of her daughter, the mother had said that a case of a missing person was reported at the Ekpan Divisional Police Station.
However, Brenda alleged on Monday that the police were lackadaisical about finding her sister, adding that the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the case had been demanding money for the investigation.
She said, “My younger sister went to school on April 28, 2021, but has not been seen since then. Initially, when she didn’t return home around 7pm, we thought she had gone for her extra-mural class with her elder brother, Meville, but he told us that he did not see her.
“I searched for her at all her friends’ houses, but all to no avail. I called my mother to ask if Treasure was with her and she said no. I later sought the help of a policeman, who directed me to the Ekpan Police Station, to report that my sister had gone missing.
“When I got there, the policemen at the station told me to wait for 48 hours before making a report. After waiting, they told me to pay N14,000 for them to take my statement, open a case file and run a broadcast about my missing sister.
“I had N5,000 and gave them N4,000. I begged them to help me find my sister and they assured me of informing the headquarters in Asaba and the Delta Broadcasting Service about my complaints. I also went on Nairaland, Facebook and Twitter to post pictures of my missing sister and hoped that she would be located.”
During a visit to the DBN on Tuesday, Brenda said the officials told her that her sister’s case was not reported, adding that after confronting the IPO with the fact, the policewoman ignored her.
She stated, “The police did not send any signal to them as they claimed. They only collected my money and refused to do anything, while my sister remains missing.
“It is really sad that the police can do this to a little child. If she was to be the IPO’s daughter, won’t she have done something to bring her home?”
When contacted, the acting Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bright Edafe, said, “I just contacted the Divisional Police Officer, who said he has just signed the signal and copies will be sent tomorrow (Tuesday). He also said he was surprised that the victim’s sister was claiming that N10,000 was demanded from her.
“Maybe someone, who wanted to take advantage of her ignorance, made the request. The police will never request money to send a signal. The signal has been signed and it will be circulated today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday).”
