Imo: Three Wedding Guests Missing; Whereabouts Unknown

By Charles Igbo

Three wedding guests, all young men, are missing in Imo State.

The three attended the wedding from their Owerri homes to Isiala Mbano on Sunday, August 28, 2022. As at Wednesday when their disappearance became public, they had not returned, and no contact has been made of their whereabouts.

They are identified as Alaefula Chimuru, Madu Promise, and Victor Chibuike.

Their worried families have reported their sudden and inexplicable disappearance to the Police but that has brought no comfort or hope.

They had gone to the wedding in a grey coloured Lexus RX 330, and left for their Owerri homes thereafter. But they are yet to be home three days after.

Fortune Madu, a sibling of one of them, Madu Promise, confirmed the story to the Punch Correspondent in Owerri. He said: “They left a wedding ceremony at Isiala Mbano on Sunday, and didn’t get back home. Up till now, we have not seen them. Their phone numbers are permanently switched off. We have sent then messages on their social media handles, and no reply. We have reported to the Police.

The questions are: In whose custody are they? Were they abducted by hoodlums for ransom? And if so, why have the hoodlums not contacted their families three days after? Were they arrested by the Police, seeing that they are young people, traveling in a Lexus RX 330? Are they alive or dead?

On Wednesday, Theodore Uba, an Activist/Journalist, issued a statement on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the three young men.

The statement reads: “This is to inform the general public that these three young men whose pictures appear below have been declared missing.

“The three young men with names: ALAEFULE CHIMURU COLLINS, MADU PROMISE AND VICTOR CHIBUIKE, who are based in Owerri, Imo State, attended a wedding ceremony in Isiala Mbano LGA on Sunday 28th August 2022 with a grey colour Lexus RX 330, and have been unable to return back to their respective homes from the event.

“Efforts to reach them through their social media devices and social media handles prove abortive. None of their family members has been able to figure out their current location up till now.”

He said a search has been launched for them and a report made to the Police Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Owerri, for their intervention.

The Imo State Police Command has not issued a statement on the incident yet.