The co-workers of two yet-to-be-identified Chinese expatriates and three Nigerians who were declared missing during a business trip from Onitsha in Anambra State to Aba in Abia State on December 3, 2023 have said efforts are ongoing to locate their whereabouts.
In an announcement published on The Punch on Wednesday, the victims were said to be travelling in a white SUV with number plate – KSF-456-HD when they were last heard from.
“A group of five people (two Chinese, three Nigerian) on a business trip from Onitsha to Aba have been missing within the Eastern part of Nigeria since 3rd December 2023 and every effort to search for them proves abortive:
“They travelled in a white colour 4runner SUV car with registration number: KSF456HD (picture of a car shown above). We request the general public to help us in search of the car or the people in it. Anyone with viable information leading to their whereabouts will be rewarded handsomely,” the announcement read.
One of their associates who identified himself simply as Saheed, said on Wednesday that the trip was not their first in the region.
He said, “This is not their first time going there. The Chinese people don’t live here in Nigeria. They only come to do their business survey, meet their customers and their partners, and then they go back.”
Another colleague, who identified himself simply as Ben, said, “The expatriates arrived on November 19 and two weeks after, they embarked on the trip. There was communication with them that day and that was the last time we heard from them. We called all the phone numbers of people in the car and none of them went through. That was how we immediately reported to the police stations in Aba and Onitsha. Up till now, we have not got any call from anybody. They stayed in Onitsha for more than two weeks.”
The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Ikenga Tochukwu, could not be reached as calls made to his phone were not responded to. A text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.
