Linda Emone, entrepreneur and sister of a man identified as Augustine Emone, tells AJIBADE OMAPE about the circumstances surrounding the sudden disappearance of her 30-year-old brother and the struggles with police in search of her brother, who went missing on December 20, 2024

Who is Augustine Emone to you?

Augustine Emone is my younger brother, and we run a small accessories business together.

Can you tell us the last time anyone in the family saw or heard from him before he was declared missing?

He went to stay with some of his friends at Sabo, an area in Lagos. I remember that the last of his friends I took to the police station for interrogation said that after he saw him off, he went back to the apartment where they were staying with his friends, and that was the last time he heard from him.

But I can’t say if he went somewhere with his friends. He was declared missing on December 20, 2024, and that was the last time someone heard from him. I remember we spoke a day before he went missing.

Can you talk about Augustine’s age, place of residence, occupation, relationships, and other relevant details?

He is 30 years old, and not in any relationship. He was also not engaged or married to anyone before his sudden disappearance. We stay around the Lawanson area of Lagos.

Did Augustine express any concern, fear, or unusual behaviour in the days or weeks leading up to his disappearance?

No, he did not say anything at the time we spoke. I don’t know if he was threatened by anyone.

Did he have any medical challenge that might have influenced his disappearance?

No, he did not have any medical issue. My brother was fine before he went missing.

When and how did the family realise he was missing?

He called me one day and asked me to send him my account number. He said he wanted me to keep some money for him. So, I sent the account details to him, and I called him, but he did not pick up. I waited, but unlike him, he didn’t come online, and that was it; I did not hear from him again that day.

One of his friends also mentioned that he expected him to show up the next day because they needed to go somewhere together. He called my brother, but his phone kept ringing without any response, which was very unusual, even for his friends.

What were your immediate reactions after figuring out that he was nowhere to be found?

Two of his friends went to report to the police station before I got to know because I wasn’t around. Two of them stay around the Lawanson area just like us. I came back and reported the matter at the police station; I think that was on December 31, 2024.

When I got to the station to make my report, I was told that the IPO in charge of missing people was not around. So, I went back on the 16th of January 2025, but before then, we were already looking for him at his friend’s place and other places.

By January 16, 2025, I went to the police, then we started the investigation. The only thing they got was the person who bought his phone. The buyer said he bought it from one Aboki (northerner) around Tejuoso market, and he claimed to know him very well. He could not provide him, claiming the person had absconded.

One of the friends who went to report at the station was a student, and the other was staying on the same street with us. The police didn’t allow them to make an entry to report the case because they were not related to the missing person by blood; they were told to get across to a relative, so I had to come out.

The friend, who was the last person to see him, said they were at Sabo. When I called the police, I was asked to make a report at the police station near where he was last seen. So, I reported the matter at the Sabo Police Station.

You mentioned that the police tracked your brother’s phone to a new user. What help did that discovery add to the ongoing investigation?

The first time they tracked it, they tracked the person who removed my brother’s SIM card from the phone and inserted another one before it was sold to a different person. At some point, after the police arrested the guy who bought the phone, the next move was for them to arrest the seller at the Tejuoso market area.

But when they got there, the seller could not be found. We paid the police for all the tracking. I don’t know if they later arrested the seller. The police kept giving excuses that they could not arrest without the permission of the Divisional Police Officer in that area.

There are two different suspects; the buyer of the phone is different from the person who removed my brother’s SIM card from the phone. I don’t think the two people know each other.

Do you know if the person the police had in custody is still with them?

I don’t know unless I put a call across to my uncle’s wife or any of the police officers, because I backed off the issue.

Aside from the phone buyer and seller, have there been any lead or communication since he was declared missing?

The only lead they had that could have produced something tangible was to arrest the phone seller at the Tejuoso market area, because I think if they were able to arrest him, he would have provided us with who gave him the phone.

The police said they called the seller on the phone and told him they needed his assistance for something. But they were not diligent enough to do their job. For each arrest the police made, they asked us to pay N50,000. We were asked to pay N40,000 to track his phone. When we took the matter from the Sabo Police Station to Panti, we were asked to pay N150,000 before they would start work.

The last time I went to the station was when I took his close friend who saw him last for interrogation. I have not gone there again, and I’ve never called my uncle’s wife to know about the situation, because I don’t know what they were trying to do. I just left them.

Of all of his friends who were taken for interrogation, did any of them give vital information that could help the police?

No, but one of them said something meaningful. He said, my brother called, and they met at Sabo, then they escorted him back to where he was staying with his friends. My brother then saw his friends off to a place not far from the compound, and they decided to see the next day.

By the next day, when they were supposed to meet, he called my brother, but he did not pick up. His friend said the phone rang a few times before the line was no longer reachable.

I don’t know if my brother spent the night in the house where he was supposed to sleep. I feel maybe he went out somewhere. I don’t know; I can’t say. Some people are suggesting we take it up with the DSS. I thought of taking it up with them, but I know it will cost a lot because nothing is free in this country.

How has the experience affected the family emotionally, mentally, and financially over the past months?

Everyone is down. My mum is down as well. We are relying on God. No one is happy with his disappearance.

Apart from reporting to the police, what other steps have you taken to find your missing brother?

Before the person who bought my brother’s phone was arrested, I had gone out to check prisons just to be sure he was not arrested illegally. I went to the Ikoyi Prison and another one. We have tried social media platforms.

Also, when I noticed that he was missing, I thought maybe it was a minor issue. So, I sent a recharge card and voice notes to his Facebook account in case he was stranded. I asked him to log in wherever he was and recharge his phone so he could call me. I didn’t know if he needed money to come home.

Do you suspect anybody could have been behind his disappearance and what’s your belief about what might have happened?

I don’t know what happened until we see him. I can’t begin to blame or suspect anyone.

Do you think he is a victim of abduction, or what’s the worst you think could have happened in the past five months?

I think his friends are involved. I don’t know which of them. It could be the ones helping me to look for him. I don’t know.

What made you feel that his friends could be involved in his disappearance?

I feel so because he asked me to send him my account number so I could keep some money for him. After sending him my account details, he didn’t come online again.

Have there been efforts by the community or religious groups to help in the search?

Your problem is yours to bear. That is one thing about Nigerians. But my family members have been doing their best; they came out en masse and gave their best support. We all hope he comes back home safe and sound.

What do you want from the Nigerian public, law enforcement agencies, or government?

They can assist in any way. They can help to look for my brother; we are asking for help to find our missing brother. We want to locate our brother because his whereabouts have remained unknown for five months.

If Augustine could hear you right now, what message would you and the family like to send him?

We want him to come back home, no matter what it is. We want to hear from him. If possible, he should give us a video call so we can see that he is okay, where he is.

Are you satisfied with the way law enforcement has handled this case?

I am not; they have been so harsh. When I took them to where he was staying in Sabo, we paid. When we took the suspects from Sabo to the Panti Police Station, we paid for the transportation. We paid for the feeding of the officers; we paid for their time. They did not show concern; all they wanted was money.

The government should employ people with passion in the Nigeria Police Force, not people seeking jobs. Most of them just want to feed their families and pay their bills; they don’t have a passion for the job.

When you meet people with a passion for their jobs, they will do it very diligently and take the problem as their problem. At one point, I became scared to call them because when they picked up the phone, their response to my call wasn’t good.

If you had to sum it up, how much would you say you have spent on police helping to find your brother’s issue?

We have paid them close to N500,000, and aside from arresting the buyer of my brother’s phone, no other tangible arrests have been made. I do not know if the suspect is still in their custody.

There have been many cases of people disappearing, and months later, they are found kidnapped, dead, or dismembered. Do you think it’s an issue of national security, or do you think it’s an issue of people going out without disclosing their locations to loved ones?

It is a mix of both. My advice to people is that whenever they are going out, they should make sure their loved ones know where they are going so that when anything happens, they can know where to look.