By UCHENNA UGWU

The parents of two missing visually-impaired students from a school in Ebonyi State, have appealed to Gov. Francis Nwifuru and security agencies for help in locating their children.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the students — Augustine Onwunyiruba, a 17-year-old male in JSS3, and Onyenaturuchukwu Lawrence, a 16-year-old female in SS1 — are partially visually-impaired.

They attend the Special Secondary School in Opefia Community, in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Speaking with NAN in Abakaliki on Friday, the parents said they remained confused and distressed over the sudden disappearance of their children from the school premises on June 5.

The parents, Mr. Lawrence Ikegwu and Mr. Onwunyiruba Odinaka, stated in a report submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) office in the state that the students were last seen on that date.

“When we got the information, we felt it was just a joke, even up till date.

“We have been moving round in search of them but all to no avail.

“The school management has not been serious over the matter.

“We have reported this matter to the Police, but since then, no good result. Though the police have been on top of it, but we are yet to find the whereabouts of our children.

“We need your intervention (Human Rights) over this matter, at least, to let the school authority know that we are talking about human being. Thanks for granting our request.

“We, therefore call on our Gov. Francis Nwifuru to help us at ensuring that our children are found and returned home safely.

“We want the police to deepen their investigations. We don’t have money, please, we need the help of the general public too; we want our children to come back healthy and sound,” the parents pleaded.

SP Joshua Ukandu, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ebonyi Command, said the command was aware of the matter, noting that the incident occurred on June 5.

Ukandu said that the officers and men of the command had been on investigations to find their whereabouts.

“The command has been investigating the matter and we have disseminated this information to other commands in the state and even through the radio to the general public.

“Unfortunately, no there is no information on their whereabouts till date. It’s too bad,” the PPRO stated.

Mr. Christopher Okorie, Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the state, said the commission had been following up on the case to ensure the children were found alive.

Okorie condemned the incident and urged all relevant agencies to take necessary action to ensure the safe return of the missing students.

“My heart goes out to the parents, and I urge them to remain steadfast as the relevant agencies work to get to the root of this matter,” he added. (NAN)