A young woman, Zeenat Maliki, is pleading with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCoS) to provide answers regarding the mysterious disappearance of her father, Abubakar Maliki, a customs officer who went missing in Lagos State after attending a promotional examination.
Zeenat shared her frustrations in a telephone conversation with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, expressing her deep concern over the lack of progress in the investigation into her father’s disappearance.
“My father has served the customs for about 30 years, and they are treating his case with levity. The family has been traumatized by this incident. I don’t understand how they will claim that his phone was found at the examination hall and his whereabouts are unknown” she lamented.
The troubling situation began when Abubakar Maliki traveled from Kano to Lagos in July to take a promotional exam. Zeenat recounted how she was in regular contact with her father during his trip. She last spoke to him on the morning of the exam, when he told her that he was about to enter the examination hall. However, after several hours passed, her attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
“I called his telephone number three times, but it indicated busy. I assumed he was still inside the examination hall,” she said.
As the hours turned into days with no word from her father, Zeenat and her family grew increasingly anxious. They reported the situation to the Kano State Customs office, where they were assured that an investigation had begun. They also involved the Sokoto State Police Division, where Zeenat currently resides, in the search. Efforts to track her father’s phone led to its location at the examination center in Ikorodu, Lagos.
Zeenat explained, “When we called his number after tracking it, it was picked up by someone who claimed that they found the phone at the examination hall in Ikorodu. I was told that he had left the phone at the examination hall.”
The family’s fears deepened when they learned from the police that a withdrawal had been made from Abubakar Maliki’s account via a POS outlet several days after he became unreachable. Despite obtaining a court order to check for transactions on his account, the mystery of his disappearance remains unsolved.
Zeenat has also reached out to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for assistance, but has yet to receive a meaningful response.
“I called him to explain the situation, and he asked that I call back. He has since not responded to my message,” she said.
Zeenat added that the ordeal has taken a serious toll on her own life, including her ability to focus on her exams.
She is now urging the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service to take her father’s case seriously and help the family uncover what happened to him.
“We are appealing to the Nigeria Customs Service to explain the whereabouts of my father. He is all that we have,” Zeenat said with desperation in her voice.
When contacted for an update, the Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Customs, Nura Abdullahi, stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
“There is no update yet on the incident and the investigation is ongoing,” Abdullahi said, offering little solace to a family in distress.