Oyo seeks assistance of Nigerians in Turkey to locate missing student

The Oyo State Government is seeking the assistance of Nigerians, especially indigenes of the state resident in Turkey to help find a missing student, Jamiu Adebayo Adekunle.

According to the Special Assistant to the Governor on Diaspora Matters, Mrs Bolanle Sarumi-Aliyu, the student went missing since 2020 before the outbreak of COVID-19.

She also disclosed that Adekunle, who hails from Iseyin, Oyo State, graduated from the University of Ilorin and then proceeded to Uskudar University, Istanbul, for his Master’s degree.

Sarumi-Aliyu, while speaking to journalists at the weekend, said the parents of the missing student had written a letter to the state government through the Diaspora Matters office, seeking assistance to find and return their son home safely.

According to the parents’ letter, Adekunle, before missing, usually contacted them from time to time before the global outbreak of covid-19.

The father, Mr Muraina Adekunle in the letter said;

The letter signed by Mr. Muraina Adekunle read in part: “My son, Adebayo, graduated from one of the prestigious universities in Nigeria before he proceeded to Uskudar University, Istanbul, for his master’s degree.

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“He always contacts us regularly before the outbreak of the first phase of coronavirus pandemic. We tried to reach one of his friends over there and he promised to help us look for him.

“His friend’s name is Samuel. Samuel looked for him but the condition he met him is bad, he told us my son was medically not okay and he was having mental problem with picture sent to us. We made all our possible efforts so that his friends could help take him to hospital but all our efforts was abortive.”

Continuing, the Governor’s aide said she has reasons to believe that the missing person is currently suffering from mental illness, stressing that revelations from her findings indicated that Jamiu Adebayo Adekunle has been mentally unstable for some time.

According to her, her office has made considerable efforts to follow up the story brought to her by Mr Muraina Adekunle and has made some shocking discoveries, adding that some of the contacts she made include the Turkish High Commission in Nigeria, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM)

She further disclosed that her preliminary investigations after receiving feedback from the foreign affairs ministry revealed that parents of the missing person who are peasant farmers have sent over N500,000 to Jamiu’s friends in Turkey since he was first reported missing in 2020.

She appealed to the Nigerian community, especially those of Oyo state origin resident in Turkey to urgently report to the Nigerian embassy in Turkey or directly contact her via [email protected], or via her official social media handle oyostate_diasporans, if they have any information about the missing person.

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