Missing Or Murdered: Family Seeks Justice After Disappearance Of 19-Year-Old Girl

On February 13, 2025, 19-year-old Zubaidat Isah left home at Kado Village Life Camp, Abuja after a call from her boss, Grace Okosun for a job in Gwarinpa, in the FCT. That would be the last time her family saw her.

“ That day was her day off. Her madam called her that she should come to work in the evening,” Zubaidat’s mother, Bintu Isah narrated tearfully to THE WHISTLER.

According to Bintu, Zubaidat, has been working in Spax Republic, Utako owned by Grace for about two years before she got admission into the Nasarawa State University.

“It happened that from November through December last year, when she was on vacation, she decided to go back to work to get some money before returning to school,” Bintu said.

The widowed mother said that her daughter left home for office around 6.30pm and when she arrived at the office, her boss, instructed her to proceed to Gwarinpa at House 3, off 3rd Avenue, to meet a colleague named Zainab, also known as Lilian, for further job directives.

“She called me around 8pm saying that she had gotten to the office…The following day, we couldn’t reach her. We kept trying her line but the phone was switched off. I now asked her elder brother to call her but her phone was still switched off.
“…I was worried because her phone was never switched off as she had a power bank to boost it. I told Hakeem that we should go to her work place to look for her. When we got there, we met her colleagues.
“I asked them about my daughter and they said they didn’t know her whereabouts. I asked about their Madam and they said she is in Kaduna. But I said, ‘No, your madam called Zubaidat, and I was aware of it.’

The distraught mother said she had immediately called Grace who denied calling Zubaidat or knowing her location.

Determined to find her daughter, Bintu reported the case to the Life Camp police station on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

She explained that the police had asked her to provide the madam’s number, which she did, but Grace denied any involvement with Zubaidat when contacted by the police and refused to visit the police when invited.

In a surprising twist, the family stated that a man who simply gave his name as Honourable called Zubaidat’s mother in the fourth day of her disappearance, alleging that Grace had confided in him that there was a ‘fight’ that day and Zubaidat got injured in the process had died.

“He introduced himself to me as Honourable. He was actually the one that helped lead to the arrest of Grace by the Intelligence Response Unit (IRT),” Hakeem, Zubaidat’s brother explained.

Days later, the police informed the family that a body believed to be Zubaidat’s had been discovered. It was taken to the Kubwa General Hospital’s mortuary.

“ When we got to Gwarinpa Police Division, that very day, they told me to write a statement. I ask them for the picture they took of the body. The picture and the video they showed me was not of my daughter.

“I requested to visit the mortuary. So, they now gave us two policemen that went with us to the General Hospital. I followed the mortuary attendant and when they brought out the corpse, it was still not my daughter,” she said.

Zubaidat’s mother and her brother explained that the physical features of the corpse had no resemblance to Zuby’s as they normally call her.

“ She’s not even close to my sister,” the brother said. “My sister has a gap tooth. She also has a birthmark on her face which the corpse doesn’t have. The corpse had a piercing on the nose unlike my sister.”

While police insist the young woman is dead, her mother maintains that the body presented to them is not her daughter’s and accused. authorities of a possible cover-up.

A senior police officer attached to the Gwarinpa Police Division told THE WHISTLER that Zubaidat was stabbed and her hands were tied behind her back. The officer revealed that the Inspector General’s Intelligence Response Team, IRT, later demanded that the Gwarinpa Division hand over the case file. But the division repeatedly resisted, claiming that the file had already been submitted to the FCT Police Command.

Even more disturbing, the family claims that the case was secretly charged to court without their knowledge.

“How can a case be under investigation and when the investigation is still ongoing, you charge the case to the court,” they queried.

They also staged protests during the court appearance to draw public attention to what they allege is a case of human trafficking being buried by the police.

“I believe my sister is alive and those involved are moving my sister and other girls out of this country and that’s why they have been trying to cover this up,” Hakeem claimed.

When contacted, the IRT was not available for comment, while the first CID referred THE WHISTLER to police public relations officer Muyiwa Adejobi.

Repeated attempts to reach the spokesperson of the FCT police command also yielded no response. Zubaidat’s mother believes the investigation has been compromised and is now pleading for help from Nigeria’s first lady, Senator Oluremi Tinibu, to step in.

“Please, Nigeria should help me. The First Lady should help me. I don’t have anybody to assist me, even the lawyer that I took… I don’t have somebody to assist me.

“I’m just trying to fight them because I know that my daughter is alive. They take her somewhere. I know that my daughter is alive. They should release my daughter for me….I’m pleading with them that they should release my daughter for me.

“ I know that she’s alive, that my daughter is not dead. They should give me my daughter. I will not make any case with them if they release my daughter for me,” she lamented.

While discussion about DNA testing of the corpse has emerged, Hakeem questioned the necessity.

“How can we agree to DNA when we have checked and the corpse is not my sister’s. We opened the corpse’s teeth and confirmed that it doesn’t have a gap tooth. The face is not disfigured. We are seeing the face clearly. The corpse has a piercing on her nose and my sister doesn’t have one. So what do they want us to do again? We should agree to a DNA test and run a test on a corpse we know is not ours?” Hakeem queried.

Another mystery the family said is that on the 16th of last month, Zubaidat’s friend reached out to them to say that she exited their school WhatsApp group.

“Grace and Zainab said they destroyed her phone when the incident happened. How can someone that is dead exit her school’s WhatsApp group or is somebody still holding on to her phone?,” he asked

Zubaidat’s case has left many unanswered questions. Five months after her disappearance, the family continues to push for transparency and accountability in what is becoming one of Abuja’s most troubling unresolved disappearances.

Missing Or Murdered: Family Seeks Justice After Disappearance Of 19-Year-Old Girl is first published on The Whistler Newspaper