The family of 25-year-old Comfort Uwakwe is demanding urgent answers from the Nigeria Police Force nearly four months after she vanished under harrowing circumstances in Epe, Lagos State—leaving behind only a trail of unanswered questions, a single severed limb, and a boyfriend whose account continues to shift.
Comfort, a native of Owalla Autonomous Community in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State and a resident of Mafolokun, Oshodi, was last heard from on October 25, 2025.
Her disappearance, now stretching into its fourth month, has become a haunting case of alleged police sluggishness, forensic gaps, and a family's refusal to accept a narrative they say defies both logic and evidence.
The Final Call: 'I Am Locked in a Room. I Am in Danger'
According to her younger sister, Virginia Uwakwe, Comfort left home that Saturday afternoon to visit a male acquaintance, identified as Olajide Akinshola, in the Epe area . She arrived safely and placed a call to her close friend, Ifeoma, confirming she had met with the person she intended to see .
Hours later, at approximately 10:08 p.m., Comfort made a second, frantic call to Ifeoma.
She said she had been locked inside a room and feared for her life. She expressed concern that if contact was lost, she might not survive .
Moments later, her phone went dead. It has not been switched on since .
A Winding, Ineffectual Investigation
On October 27, two days after Comfort's last known contact, her family reported her missing at the Makinde Police Station, Oshodi. An Investigating Police Officer was assigned, but the family was promptly directed to file the complaint in Epe—the jurisdiction where Comfort was last seen .
At the Epe station, they were referred back to Makinde .
The bureaucratic ping-pong consumed critical early days. Formal investigation eventually commenced on October 28.
Nearly one month later, on November 26, 2025, Akinshola was arrested in Epe and transferred to the Makinde station before being moved to the Lagos State Police Command Special Squad, Ikeja, where he was formally designated as a suspect .
The Suspect's Shifting Account: From Denial to Accident
According to the family and community leaders briefed on the investigation, Akinshola initially denied any knowledge of Comfort's whereabouts . He later admitted meeting her on the day in question.
His subsequent confession contained several evolving claims:
- That he and Comfort consumed alcohol together.
- That she became "tipsy," prompting him to lock her inside a hotel room for her safety—or, as the family interprets it, her captivity .
- That she later escaped and met with a fatal accident along the Epe highway, where a speeding trailer allegedly crushed her .
- That he led police to the scene of the purported accident over a month later, where investigators recovered a single severed human leg, presented as Comfort's only remains .
The Leg That Does Not Fit
The discovery of the limb, rather than resolving the case, ignited a fierce dispute between the family and law enforcement.
Upon viewing a photograph of the recovered leg, family members immediately and emphatically rejected the claim that it belonged to Comfort .
"When we saw the picture of the leg, we insisted it was not Comfort's," a family source told journalists .
The police reportedly responded by requesting an autopsy and DNA test—with the family expected to bear the cost .
The family has agreed, but the demand has only deepened their sense of betrayal. "We are victims asking for justice, yet we are being asked to pay to prove that our daughter's own body is not hers," a relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Twenty Questions: The Owalla Community Demands Answers
Frustrated by what they describe as a slow, opaque, and prematurely concluded investigation, the Owalla Town Development Union (OTDU), Lagos branch, has issued a public statement cataloguing the unanswered questions that continue to haunt Comfort's case .
Signed by the union's president, Mr. Chiedozie Nzeh, the statement raises the following troubling points:
On the recovered body part:
- Whose leg was recovered by police? If it belongs to Comfort, where are the other parts of her body?
- How could a severed leg remain intact and un-decomposed at an accident scene for several weeks?
On the suspect's account:
- If Comfort was locked in a hotel room, how did she escape to the highway?
- Was there evidence of forced entry or escape from the room? Were the doors or windows tampered with?
On the investigation:
- What have hotel staff on duty that day told investigators?
- Why are police seemingly accepting the "accident" narrative while ignoring other possibilities—including ritual murder, given the circumstances of a single, preserved limb?
- Why did it take over a month for the suspect to lead police to the alleged scene?
- Are there no accident records from the Federal Road Safety Corps or the police confirming a fatal crash involving a female pedestrian on that date and location?
On the family's ordeal:
- Why should a grieving family pay to establish the identity of remains that police themselves recovered?
- Why was there no initial forensic examination of the hotel room, witness interviews, or immediate traffic investigation?
"These and many more questions are begging for answers that are critical for the sake of justice," Nzeh's statement reads. "There is need for due diligence in the investigation, on the part of the police, before it is concluded" .
Police Respond: 'We Are Committed to Unravelling the Truth'
Facing mounting public pressure, the Lagos State Police Command issued a statement on January 26, 2026, reaffirming its commitment to the investigation .
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Adebisi, acknowledged the family's anguish as "understandable given the traumatic circumstances surrounding the disappearance" .
She disclosed that the Commissioner of Police had directed the special squad handling the case to provide an update, which would be communicated publicly.
"The Special Squad assigned to the case is a proactive unit with a strong track record of dismantling criminal networks. Significant time and resources have been committed to this investigation," Adebisi stated .
She further assured that while progress may not always be immediately visible, investigative efforts remain ongoing until tangible outcomes are achieved.
The family, however, notes that no substantive briefing has occurred since that assurance was issued.
Four Months and Counting: A Family in Limbo
For Comfort's immediate family, the past four months have been a cruel suspension between hope and grief.
Her sister Virginia, who has been the family's primary spokesperson, told PUNCH: "We don't know whether to mourn or to keep waiting. If she is gone, give us her body. If she is alive, bring her home. But this silence—this is not investigation. This is abandonment."
The case has also drawn attention to broader systemic issues: jurisdictional delays in missing persons reporting, the absence of a coordinated database for unidentified remains, and the financial burden placed on families seeking forensic clarity.
Public Appeal
The Owalla Town Development Union has issued an urgent appeal to the Nigerian public, human rights organizations, and national authorities to take interest in Comfort's case .
Anyone with useful information regarding the whereabouts of Ms. Comfort Uwakwe or the circumstances of her disappearance is urged to contact:
📞 0913 061 0045
📞 0706 290 3832*l
Or report to the nearest police station.
As the days stretch into months, Comfort's family continues to wait—caught between the fear that she is gone and the hope that she is not. But above all, they wait for the truth.
Whatever form it takes, they say, they are ready. What they are not ready for is to be forgotten.
And until Comfort Uwakwe is found—alive or accounted for—her community has vowed not to let that happen.
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