An 18-year-old student of Lagos State Government College, Eric Moore, Bode Thomas, Lagos, Joseph Leonard, who went missing on April 8, 2022, has been found.

Leonard, a resident of Silifatu Akinsanya Street in the Ijeshatedo area of Surulere, was said to have left home in the early hours of Friday, April 8, 2022, informing his mother that he was going to school and had not been seen till he was found at Berger Lagos.

The incident was also reported at both Ijesha Police Station and Bode Thomas Police Station and the police intensified the search but to no avail.

While leaving home on that fateful day, Leonard was without his uniform and when his mother inquired, the Senior Secondary (SS) 1 student told her that he was going to school to get his result and also play football so, there was no need to put on his uniform so that it won’t get dirty.

Speaking with The Guardian, a neighbour, Mrs. Adedayo Salami said that a Good Samaritan saw the boy in Berger while he was traveling on Sunday, May 29, 2022. He recognised him based on the picture shared and brought him back home.

She said: “Based on his explanation, he was picked up by ritualists. He said he was picked among his three friends. He said they took him outside Lagos. He told us that he left home with three other boys and boarded a bus and they picked only him up after they alighted, tied his legs and hands and hit him, and then put him in the boot of a waiting car after he became unconscious. He said he woke up and didn’t see the other boys they both left Surulere.

“We suspect that it could be those boys that asked him not to put on his uniform on that fateful day. He is yet to tell us the names of the three boys. Somebody dashed him a trouser and a traffic warder jacket.

“We appreciate the report by The Guardian on the case and we are happy he is back home. We were surprised and happy to see him.”