Two children go missing during Jumat service in Lagos

Parents of three-year-old Muhaisin Awaz and Abdallah Abdulazeez, 6, are in dispair after the two children reportedly disappeared during a Jumat service at Oniyanrin, in the Mile 12, Ketu area of Lagos State.  

In a report by PUNCH Metro, the families of the two children are friends and Abdulazeez’s mother had visited Muhaisin’s parents on that Friday to inform them of her plans to travel to her hometown in Kano State.

She was said to be heavily pregnant and wanted to give birth in Kano. During the visit, the two children were said to be playing together when they heard the call to Islamic prayers.

Then the two children hurried downstairs to join other Islamic faithfuls for the prayers. They were said to have gone missing during the payers as they could not be found afterwards. Muhaisin’s sister, Sekiyat, said the incident happened around 1.30pm on December 16, 2017.

She said, “We are friends with Abdallah’s parents. We are from the same hometown in Kano State and live in the same Hausa community in Mile 12. Abdallah’s mother is pregnant and due for delivery. She came to inform us that she would be travelling to Kano to have her baby. She said she would be going on Sunday.

“While the two children were playing, we heard the call to prayers. We have a mosque on the ground floor of our house. But during Jumat service, people pray on the street. So, we thought they had gone to join others for the prayers on the street. But after the prayers, we couldn’t find them.” The three-year-old’s mother, Ramotu, said the families had gone to different police stations in Lagos, including Ketu, Ojodu and Ikeja police divisions, adding that their efforts were futile.