A Nigerian woman, who has been dating the same guy for three years but has not married him because their genotypes were not compatible, has gone missing after spending a night with him on December 31, local newspaper, The Punch, reported on Wednesday, quoting family members and officers investigating the case.
Grace Utum, 29, a worker with Nigeria’s largest airline, Arik Air, visited Ihuoma Amelogu, her 32-year old lover in the Ojodu Berger area of Lagos State on December 31, spent the night with him and left on January 1 for work, promising to see him again later in the day, but never returned, nor was she seen again.
With about 21 million residents in Lagos, many people go missing virtually every day in Nigeria’s most populous state. Some people have been missing for many years with investigations leading nowhere or abandoned midway by an ill trained and poorly remunerated police force.
Grace, an indigene of Cross River State and a graduate of Accounting, University of Calabar, who was working in the hospitality department of Arik Air had left her Ikeja office for her lover’s house on January 1, 2016 after spending the night with him on December 31. It was the last time she was seen by family members.
“We were together on December 31, 2015; she slept at my place. She sometimes stayed at my place because her office in Ikeja is closer to my house in Ojodu Berger. She rented an apartment in Agbado Crossing, Ogun State,” the boyfriend said.
“Around 6 am on January 1, she said she was going to the office. We always had a family reunion every New Year at my uncle’s place in Ajah, so we planned to meet there.
“I spoke with her around 12 noon. Then around 3pm, when I was at my uncle’s place, we communicated again and I asked if she was still coming. She said she was rounding off at the office and would soon join me.”
“Her mother said she called her and a stranger picked it and said the phone was missing. I was surprised because she (Grace) didn’t call me that she had misplaced her phone.
“I decided to call the number myself, but it was unreachable. I kept calling till 2am, when it was switched off”. It was the last time he heard from her, more than four weeks ago.
The case was reported at the Ojodu Police Division and Amelogu was arrested after a mobile phone and a handbag belonging to the victim were found in his apartment on the day Grace went missing, nothing really abnormal for two people dating.
He was released after police said there was nothing to connect him with the disappearance.
Grace’s family contacted a telecommunication company to track her calls, but they were asked to get a court order, The Punch reported.
The Punch reported that an uncle of the victim, Felix Omini, said the family became worried after her mother called one of her telephone lines and a stranger picked the call.
“Her mother called her that night and discovered that it was a stranger that picked the call. The stranger said the phone was missing and its owner had called him and said she was coming for it in company with a man.
“Grace’s mother called her boyfriend, Amelogu, thinking he was the man the stranger was referring to. But he said he had also been trying to reach her without success.”
Omini said he called 32-year-old Amelogu and together they went to report the matter at the police station.
The victim’s father, Obongha Utum, said Grace and Amelogu had been dating for three years and would have been married, but for a problem with their blood compatibility.
“The police said we should talk to the boyfriend because that was where she said she was going, but I don’t know what to think. They are church members and were supposed to have been married; but that became impossible after they discovered their genotypes were not compatible.
“We have also gone to Agbado Crossing in Ogun State, where she lived with a friend. We didn’t meet anybody in the house; everywhere was deserted.”
The case is still under investigation while the young woman remains missing.