A 75-year-old man, Daniel Chukwu, has been reported missing after he accompanied family members to the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos, on June 25, 2025.
His daughter, Onyinye Chukwu, told Saturday PUNCH that her father had joined her and her mother on a hospital visit for her younger brother’s medical evaluation.
Due to the hospital’s policy allowing only two people into the emergency ward, Mr. Chukwu was asked to wait outside while she and her mother went in with her brother.
“He was sitting near the emergency ward. I bought him food between 9 and 10 a.m., which he ate.
Later, I stepped out to submit my brother’s urine sample to the lab and told him I’d bring him snacks when I returned.
But by the time I came back, he was gone,” she recounted.
After a brief search around the hospital, the family assumed the elderly man might have attempted to return home on his own to Egbeda, where they live.
“We got back home, hoping he’d arrived. But he hadn’t.
I rushed back to the hospital to report his disappearance and requested access to CCTV footage, only to be told the cameras weren’t working due to a power outage,” Onyinye added.
The family reported the incident at the Sabo Police Station. Since then, efforts to locate Chukwu have intensified, but no leads have emerged.
According to Onyinye, her father has a history of high blood pressure and previously suffered a stroke.
While he occasionally experiences mild memory lapses, she said he is mentally alert, can walk unaided—though slowly—and is capable of communicating and identifying himself.
“Even when he forgets something, he remembers it shortly after.
He can follow conversations and instructions. He has self-awareness,” she explained.
As of the time this report was filed, Mr. Chukwu had yet to be found.
Attempts to reach Lagos Police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, for an update were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to his phone went unanswered.