The family of seven-year-old Mercy Akande has raised the alarm after the girl disappeared in the Sango Ota area of Ogun State.
The incident reportedly occurred on Monday near the location where Mercy’s mother operates a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal.
According to sources, a man, identified as a regular customer of the mother’s shop, visited the stall, bought food for the girl, and then sent her on an errand to purchase a sachet of water.
Upon her return, the customer approached Mercy midway and tried to take the water sachet from her. The girl’s mother noticed this and became concerned, but she was distracted by other customers. When she turned back to check on her daughter, both Mercy and the man had vanished.
The girl’s nephew, who identified himself as Jude, shared the details of the incident, explaining that the man frequently visited the shop to withdraw money and buy recharge cards. He had developed a friendly rapport with the girl, often buying her food and giving her money.
Jude explained, “On Monday morning, the man visited again and bought food for himself and Mercy. While her mother attended to other customers, he sent the girl to buy water. On her way back, he approached her to take the water from her. The mother saw this but was distracted by other customers. When she turned around to check, both the man and Mercy were gone.”
Despite immediate efforts to search for Mercy, she was not found. Calls to the man’s phone went unanswered, and his number became unreachable.
Mercy’s cousin, using the handle Miyakee, revealed on social media that the incident had been reported to the local police station. However, the family faced obstacles when trying to pursue the case. According to the cousin, the mother was initially asked to pay N10,000 to file the report and N30,000 to track the man’s phone number.
He shared, “The mother has already paid N10,000 to report the case, and she has to pay another N30,000 to track the phone number. She is going back to pay tomorrow. So far, no work has started. She has only paid N8,000 to write her statement and N2,000 to print pictures of Mercy. To track the phone number, she must pay N30,000 and get a court affidavit to take to MTN.”
He also mentioned that efforts to obtain the necessary court affidavit had been delayed due to the holiday season.
As of the time of this report, attempts to contact the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, were unsuccessful, as calls and messages went unanswered.
