Family accuses Ondo Police Command of cover up in case of kidnapped 5-year-old girl

The kidnapping and trafficking of a five-year-old girl, Ifeoma Jesinta, from Ondo State to Delta State, has taken a new twist as the family has raised the alarm over alleged cover up.

The parents of the victim, through their lawyer, Tope Temokun, in a petition addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, accused the Ondo Police Command of compromise over the case.

In the petition, in which the Chairman, Police Service Commission, Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, among others were copied, the family said the Command has been shielding the principal suspect of the crime.

Temokun disclosed that while innocent parents of the kidnapped child were arrested and remanded in custody, the main suspect, who owns a popular restaurant in Akure and was the last person seen with the child, remains free.

The lawyer stated that a police press statement issued on September 25, 2025, with reference number AZ:5280/ONS/PPRO/VOL.1/298 over the case signposted a “deliberate distortion of facts”.

The human rights lawyer alleged that the statement misrepresented the chronology of events, omitted vital information, and suppressed crucial investigative leads, as well as excluded the names of people the investigation had already identified as culprits.

“Most glaringly, the official police press release dated 25th September, 2025 (Ref. No. AZ: 5280 / ONS/ PPRO/ VOL.1/ 298) falsely represents the identity and parentage of the missing child.

“The child, Ifeoma Jesinta, is not the child of Sunday Kingsley and Sunday Happiness but the biological daughter of Mrs Nneka Onah and stepdaughter of Mr Ifeanyi Onah, as established in the petition and corroborated by witnesses. This deliberate misrepresentation erases the true complainants from the narrative, thereby concealing critical leads in the investigation.

“The omission of Mrs Happiness Sunday in connection with the crime, as the last person in whose custody the child was seen before disappearance, and Vivian Ngozi, mentioned as the principal accessory within the state, further confirms deliberate suppression of facts by the Ondo State Police Command.”

The petition followed the earlier claim by Ondo State Police Command that one Sunday Kingsley of Alagbaka Extension, Akure, reported that Jesinta had gone missing, adding that the case was charged before the Family Magistrate Court, leading to the remand of the child’s mother, one Nneka Onah, at the Ondo Correctional Centre.

Family accuses Ondo Police Command of cover up in case of kidnapped 5-year-old girl