The family of 74-year-old Michael Audu has been left devastated and confused after the elderly man mysteriously disappeared following a church vigil at The Apostolic Church, LAWNA, Ojota, Lagos.
Speaking with The PUNCH, the seventh child of the missing man, Daniel Audu, narrated how his father vanished without a trace in the early hours of Saturday, June 7, after attending the vigil with his wife and daughter. Daniel, a 26-year-old solar installer, described his father as a calm, reserved, and easygoing man with no history of health issues or erratic behavior.
According to Daniel, his father had gone for the vigil with his wife and youngest daughter, Blessing. After the service ended, Blessing went to fetch him so they could leave together. She assumed he was following her, but on reaching the church gate, she realised he wasn’t behind her. When she returned to the seat, he was gone.
“He walked through the church’s second gate, where people usually wait to get a tricycle. A man later told us he even exchanged greetings with my dad and that they were both waiting for a ride,” Daniel recounted.
The man eventually began trekking to his destination, while Mr. Audu remained at the bus stop. That was the last confirmed sighting of him.
Daniel said the family became worried when repeated calls to his father’s phone went unanswered. However, around 11 am on the same day, a call appeared to be answered, although no one spoke—only background noises were heard before the line went dead.
Subsequent investigations revealed unauthorized transactions on Mr. Audu’s bank account. Airtime and data bundles totaling over ₦40,000 were purchased using his phone number, prompting the family to report the case to the police.
“We reported it immediately at Alakowe Police Station near the church. They helped us get a bank statement, and we later reported to the DPO at Sabo as well. But up until now, there’s been no serious action from the police,” Daniel lamented.
He added that despite paying ₦45,000 for phone tracking, officers claimed their access to the tracking server had been blocked. Promises to escalate the case to the Commissioner of Police have also yielded no results.
To make matters worse, Daniel said the church offered no substantial help except eventually allowing the family to review CCTV footage after some resistance. The internal footage showed Mr. Audu walking out of the church but failed to capture what happened next due to lack of external surveillance.
“The police kept telling us they are working on it. But nothing has happened. We even printed flyers and searched everywhere from Ketu to Obalende on our own. We are tired,” Daniel said, his voice laced with frustration.
He is now appealing to the government and telecom operators to urgently assist in retrieving call records and transaction logs that could help trace the person who may be in possession of his father’s phone.
“The telecom company needs to release the analysis of the call and data usage. If the police can access that, maybe they can track the phone or whoever used it. That’s our only hope right now,” Daniel pleaded.
As weeks have turned into months with no clue about the whereabouts of the septuagenarian, his family remains deeply distressed. For Daniel, memories of his father’s support — including his surprise attendance at his university graduation last October — remain etched in his heart.
“That moment meant the world to me. I just want my dad back,” he said.