The family of five-year-old Memunah Abdulrahman is calling on the public for urgent assistance after their daughter was abducted by a suspected kidnapper in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State.
The PUNCH gathered on Tuesday that the tragic incident occurred on March 9, 2025, as Memunah and her older sister made their way home from an Islamic school.
Eyewitness accounts revealed that the suspect intercepted the children near a well-known supermarket in the neighborhood, leading them inside under the pretense of purchasing items for them.
While inside the store, the suspect cunningly separated the girls, seizing the opportunity to abduct Memunah and leaving her distressed sister behind.
Following the abduction, the Ejigbo Divisional Police Headquarters launched an investigation, analyzing CCTV footage from the supermarket, which captured the suspect escaping with the child in a tricycle.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Tuesday, Memunah’s devastated mother, Mrs. Bashirah, made an emotional appeal for assistance from authorities and the public to help rescue her daughter.
“The incident happened on March 9, 2025. My two children were returning from an Islamic class when the man who abducted my youngest daughter, Memunah, stopped them on the road and took them to the supermarket.
“Inside the supermarket, we were able to see what happened. He initially tried to abduct both of my daughters, but when the older one started crying, he left with Abdulrahman and disappeared,” she recounted.
Her father, Abdurrahman Alimi, also spoke with The PUNCH on Monday, lamenting the financial and emotional toll the search had taken on the family.
He expressed frustration over the lack of progress in locating his daughter.
“We have spent a lot of money trying to track down the suspect, but we haven’t seen any results from the police. We expected their job to be easier since the abduction was captured on CCTV,” he lamented.
“We need help. We are pleading with anyone who recognises the suspect to come forward. Our daughter is only five years old, and we desperately need any assistance to bring her home,” he urged.
Adding to the family’s frustration, community secretary Ojagbami explained on Tuesday that there had been no significant progress on the case since it was first reported to the Ejigbo Police Division.
“There were two children, aged eight and five, returning from Islamic school. The kidnapper took them into Bokku Supermarket and later fled with Memunah, leaving her sister behind.
“We obtained the CCTV footage from the supermarket and reported the matter to the police. We have done everything necessary, yet there has been no concrete progress,” he lamented.
In response to inquiries about the investigation, Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated that he was unaware of the incident but assured that he would look into the matter.
This abduction follows another recent kidnapping in Lagos, where suspected kidnappers seized a landlord’s daughter and another man on March 26, 2025, around 9 pm in the Ijede community.
