Missing Children Found Dead 35 days Later

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

Precisely 35days after they were declared missing by their parents, the corpses of the duo of Toheeb Adedokun and Tajudeen Falilu, were yesterday discovered inside a jeep parked few meters from their residence at Tanke Street, Ikosi area of Ketu in Lagos. 

Adedokun and Falilu had been reported missing by their respective parents on January 29 and were declared missing by the police who tilted towards treating the disappearance as a kidnap case.

The discovery of the corpses however put paid to that insinuation and now the police from Ketu Police Division have begun fresh investigations to uncover how the duo were lured and abandoned in the car after the remains of the corpses were removed.

Although none could ascertain how the bodies were dumped in the car, sources said the popular opinion was that the children might have strayed into the car to play and got trapped, with the lack of ventilation suffocating them to death.

Presently, THISDAY gathered that a crack team of homicide detectives are trying to unravel the mystery behind the corpses with their attention focused on a micro-finance bank which had parked the said vehicle.

It was also gathered that the vehicle, an Abuja Honda Pilot Sports Utility Jeep with registration number JA 734 ABC had belonged to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Macdonabi Jones Enterprises Limited, but was used as a collateral to loan money from the Berachah Micro-Finance Bank Limited, Ketu Branch.

Following his inability to pay back the money loaned from the micro-finance bank, the financial institution as stipulated in their terms of agreement had taken delivery of the said vehicle to sell and offset the loan accordingly.

The corpses were discovered after the micro-finance officials went on inspection of the vehicle and opening the boot of the vehicle for inspection, were met with the shocking discovery of the decaying bodies of the toddlers.

Some of the neighbours who spoke on condition of anonymity said they had searched all over for the children to no avail promoting the parents to report the matter to the police, not knowing that the kids were just few meters from home.

 He said, “We had searched all over for the children to no avail and assumed they were kidnapped. Even the matter was reported to the police, they too thought it was a case of kidnapping. 

"Only if we had known that the children were trapped in a vehicle few meters away, they would have still been alive today."

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said the incident is currently undergoing investigation to ascertain the real cause of the deaths.