Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Six months after a 300-level Theatre Arts student of the University of Uyo (Uniuyo) left his home in the Obio Etoi area following a phone call, his family remains trapped in a waking nightmare, having paid a ₦500,000 ransom that bought only silence instead of freedom. The abducted student, Utibe Aniefiok Asian, was last seen on December 2, 2025, when he received a call from an unidentified person using phone number 09066935255 and was invited to an undisclosed location within the Uyo metropolis. He never returned. His father, Pastor Aniefiok Asian, told journalists in Uyo on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, that the family has exhausted every channel—the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, the Commissioner for Internal Security, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police—but the security apparatus has failed to track down the abductors or locate the missing student. With nowhere else to turn, the distraught clergyman has now appealed directly to the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Rilwan Disu, to deploy all available resources to rescue his son and bring the perpetrators to book.
According to Pastor Asian, the abductors made contact with the family on December 3, 2025, the day after Utibe's disappearance, and initially demanded a staggering ₦30 million ransom. Through a series of calls made using both the suspect's phone number (09066935255) and Utibe's own mobile line (09010911529), the kidnappers gradually reduced the demand to ₦500,000. In desperation, the family transferred the money on December 13, 2025, to a Moniepoint PoS account number 5631337489 bearing the account name Uzor Onuoha Enterprise Bank. The abductors instructed Pastor Asian to proceed to the town of Abak to pick up his son. He went. His son was not there. Since that day, the kidnappers have ceased all communication, and the family has not heard Utibe's voice again.
Pastor Asian told our correspondent that the ordeal has been compounded by the slow or indifferent response of the very institutions meant to protect citizens. He explained that the matter was first reported to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command on December 5, 2025, where his statement was taken by an officer identified as Mrs Jumbo and an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) was assigned to the case. Frustrated by the lack of progress, he later escalated the matter, submitting formal petitions to the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Internal Security, retired Major General Uko Essien, and then to the Commissioner of Police, Baba Mohammed Azare, under the title "Report of Suspected Kidnapping in Uyo". He alleged that the incident was also reported to the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state, but security agencies have not been able to track the kidnappers even with clues that he said he provided.
The most shocking twist in this already painful saga came from the office of the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, Baba Azare. When newsmen contacted him on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the CP stated that the command had not yet been officially informed of the kidnapping case. "I have advised the father of the victim to report the matter through our official channels. Once that is done, we will follow up immediately," he said. This statement directly contradicted the family's claim that a petition had been submitted and an IPO assigned, adding a layer of administrative confusion to an already agonizing ordeal.
Pastor Asian, speaking with tears rolling down his cheeks, said the family has been living in a state of uncertainty and despair, not knowing whether their son is alive or dead, or who his captors are. "I still believe that the security agencies can do their work, and I want the IGP to form a rescue team to bring back my son. At least, I should know the perpetrators, and they should be brought to book," he pleaded. The family's appeal to the Inspector-General of Police is a final, desperate act to cut through the bureaucratic inertia that they feel has allowed the case to languish for half a year. They are asking the country's top police officer to deploy special intelligence assets, track the financial trail of the Moniepoint account, and launch a coordinated search operation to bring Utibe home.
The case of Utibe Asian highlights a grim reality that has become all too common in Nigeria: families who play by the rules, pay the ransom, and follow official reporting channels, yet still find themselves abandoned by a system that seems incapable of securing justice. The abductors used a simple PoS account to collect the ransom, a digital trail that, if properly followed, could have led investigators directly to the perpetrators. Yet, six months later, that trail appears to have gone cold. The family has now pinned its final hope on the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Rilwan Disu, whose recent appointment has been accompanied by pledges to reform the force and tackle kidnapping with renewed vigor. Whether those pledges will translate into action for the Asian family remains to be seen.
As of press time, the University of Uyo has not issued an official statement regarding the continued absence of its student, and the institution's silence has added to the family's sense of isolation. For now, Pastor Aniefiok Asian continues to wait by his phone, hoping for a call that does not bring a ransom demand, but the sound of his son's voice. The IGP's office has yet to respond publicly to the family's appeal. But in a country where schoolchildren and university students have become prime targets for criminal gangs, the case of Utibe Asian stands as a harrowing reminder that for too many Nigerian families, the payment of a ransom is not the end of the nightmare, but merely the beginning of a longer, darker silence.
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