A 12-year-old boy with Down’s syndrome, Omogbolahan Adelekan, has been declared missing after he disappeared during the easter celebrations at the Lafiaji area in Lagos Island, Lagos State on April 20th.
Children in the area usually come out during the Easter celebration to beat an Effigy to show their anger at Judas for betraying Jesus Christ.
According to Omogbolahan’s mother, Dupe Adelekan, she had come with her family to Lagos Island to celebrate the Easter holiday with their grandmother. It was during the ‘beating of Judas’ that her son disappeared. She said she viwsited a number of hospitals on the island but he was not there. The distraught mum said she has since reported the matter to the Lion Building Police Division.
“We started looking for him on Saturday around 3.30pm when we noticed that he was nowhere to be found. Children on Lafiaji Street were beating Judas on Saturday and because we were not staying in that area, he had never seen something like that before. He was fascinated by the whole process and followed the children to beat Judas and got missing in the process.
“When he did not get back, we asked the other children; they confirmed to us that he followed them and they took us to the places they went to; but we could not find him.” she told Punch
Confirming the report, the Lagos state police command spokesperson, DSP Bala Elkana, who said efforts were on to find the boy and reunite him with his family.
“We got the report of the missing child and have broadcast it to all our stations and points. Investigation is ongoing with a view to tracing his whereabouts.” Elkana said
