Calabar / Imo State — December 7, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
Families of two lecturers, Emmanuel Odu and Vincent Ndifon from the University of Cross River State have raised fresh alarm over their continued disappearance more than six months after they were kidnapped along the Okigwe–Okwele Road in Imo State on May 23, 2025.
The victims were travelling from Lagos to Calabar after purchasing a vehicle when gunmen abducted them. Despite multiple appeals, public uproar, a statement from the UNICROSS chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and assurances of collaboration between state police and the Department of State Services (DSS), there has been no credible update on their whereabouts and no rescue has been effected.
Relatives speaking to the media described the ordeal as “emotionally devastating,” lamenting the physical and psychological toll on the families, and decried the lack of transparency from security agencies.
In a 2025 circular, UNICROSS management confirmed the disappearance of the lecturers and said security agents from Cross River and Imo states were collaborating in search efforts. But after more than half a year, nothing has changed, no trace, no ransom note, no communication from kidnappers.
The prolonged silence and absence of progress have prompted renewed calls from civil-society groups, concerned academics, and the victims’ families for enhanced investigation, rescue efforts, and accountability urging the police, DSS and state authorities to disclose status reports publicly and escalate “search-and-rescue operations before hope fades.
Source: Saharareporters