Public concern is mounting over what relatives and community members describe as a shoddy and inconsistent police investigation into the disappearance of Ms Comfort Uwakwe, a Lagos resident who went missing during a visit to her boyfriend in Epe nearly three months ago.
Ms Uwakwe, a native of Owalla Autonomous Community in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, was last heard from on October 25, 2025. According to her family and members of the Owalla Town Development Union (OTDU), Lagos branch, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the police response have raised serious red flags.
In a statement drawing public attention to the case, the union said, “After almost ninety agonising days of waiting for the police to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of our sister and daughter, Ms Comfort Uwakwe, we are left with no option but to call the attention of the public to this matter.”
Family members said Comfort, who resided at Mafolokun, Oshodi, travelled to Epe to visit a friend identified as Olajide Akeushola. Her sister explained that upon arrival, Comfort called a female friend, Ifeoma, to confirm she had reached her destination and met the person she went to see. Later that night, at about 10:08 p.m., Comfort reportedly made a distress call.
“She told her friend that she had been locked in a room and that her life was in danger,” the family said. “Moments later, her phone went off. Since then, nobody has heard from her.”
The family reported her missing at Makinde Police Station, Oshodi, on October 27, 2025. Although an investigating police officer was initially assigned, relatives said they were told to take the matter to Epe Police Station because Comfort was last seen there. On getting to Epe, they were reportedly referred back to Makinde Police Station, a development the family described as “confusing and discouraging.”
Investigations eventually commenced at Makinde Police Station on October 28. On November 26, the boyfriend, Akeushola, was arrested in Epe and taken to Makinde Police Station before being transferred to the Lagos State Command’s Special Squad in Ikeja on November 28.
According to the family, the suspect admitted to meeting Comfort on the day she disappeared. They said he told police that they had drinks together and that when she became tipsy, he locked her in a hotel room. He further claimed that she later had an accident on the Epe highway, where a trailer allegedly crushed her.
Relatives said police later informed them that the suspect took investigators to the scene of the alleged accident, where a severed leg was recovered over a month after the incident.
“When we were shown the photograph of the leg, we immediately stated that it was not Comfort’s,” a family member said. “That was when the police said an autopsy and DNA test would be required, and that the family should bear the cost.”
The development, according to the family and community leaders, has deepened their trauma and fueled questions about the credibility of the investigation.
“Whose leg was recovered by the police?” the union asked. “If it truly belongs to Comfort, where are the other parts of her body? If she were locked in a hotel room, how did she escape to the highway? What did the hotel staff on duty that day tell the police?”
They also questioned why investigators appear to have accepted the suspect’s accident narrative without thoroughly exploring other possibilities. “Why are the police holding on to the so-called accident story and not considering other possibilities, including ritual murder, especially given the sudden appearance of a lone leg without a body?” the statement read.
The group further queried how a body part allegedly belonging to an accident victim could remain at the scene for weeks without decomposing or being discovered earlier.
“These unanswered questions point to a lack of due diligence,” the union said. “For justice to be served, the investigation must be thorough, transparent and professional.”
The family has appealed to the Nigerian public for assistance, urging anyone with useful information on the whereabouts of Ms Comfort Uwakwe to contact the police or reach out via 0913 061 0045 or 0706 290 3832.
