Abdulsamad is a Cyprus Science University student enrolled in the 300-Level International Relations programme. Before his alleged disappearance, he resided off-campus.
According to a statement released on Saturday by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the head of the media, public relations, and protocols unit for the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, his mother Dije Ibraheem begged the organisation for help in finding her only child. Ibraheem last spoke to Balogun’s 28-year-old son on the phone on August 2, when he begged her to come get him.
It partly read, “According to the 54-year-old trader, who hails from Kogi State, she last spoke with her son on August 2, through another person’s phone number, when the son raised an alarm that they had come to pick me up to a detention camp”
She said since that call from an unknown number, with her son wailing and asking for help, she had not known his whereabouts or heard any news from him or the school authorities.
Confused about what to do, she reached out to the agent who secured the admission and travelling documents for her son but he was not forthcoming too.
“She said she was advised to write a petition to the Consular and Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by a friend, which she did before someone told her that Abike Dabiri-Erewa had earlier advised Nigerians to be wary of Northern Cyprus, hence reaching out to Dabiri-Erewa for help”.
The Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Sule Bassi, who received the plea on behalf of Dabiri-Erewa, assured Ibraheem that every effort would be made to locate her son and return him home.
She reminded her that because Nigeria and the UN had no diplomatic ties with Northern Cyprus, providing diplomatic services might be challenging.
Bassi, who pleaded with Ibraheem to take care of her health, reassured her that further investigation would be carried out by the Commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
He reiterated the Commission’s earlier warning against sending students to Northern Cyprus due to the unfavourable feedback it had received, particularly from the students.
