Two lecturers from the University of Cross River (UNICROSS), Engr. Emmanuel Odu and Engr. Vincent Ndifon, are still missing for nearly two months after being declared missing by the institution’s management.
The academics, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, were last seen on Friday, May 23, 2025, near Imo State, on their way to Calabar.
They were reportedly returning from Lagos, where they went to buy an automobile.
According to Circular No. 478, issued and signed by the university’s registrar, Victor Ephraim Ene, “The acting vice chancellor and members of the university’s management team have been in constant communication with the Cross River State Commissioner of Police and the director of the Department of State Services (DSS) regarding the missing lecturers.”
According to the institution, both Cross River security officers are working closely with their counterparts in Imo State to identify the missing workers.
Regretting the unexplained disappearance, the university administration expressed sympathies for the victims’ relatives and friends, requesting members of the public with beneficial information to contact relevant security agencies or call the phone number listed in the institution’s public announcement.
However, 57 days after their last known communication, the two lecturers have still not been found, with no word from them or information about their situation.
The missing lecturers have a few things in common: they were childhood friends, both studied mechanical engineering, and they are 32 years old.
Engr. Emmanuel Odu’s uncle, Mr Ferdinand Okwor, told the press that the two went missing in Imo State on their way back to Calabar after visiting Lagos to buy a vehicle.
“All efforts to locate them have yielded no results, as there has been no contact from their abductors. It has been almost two months without them, with devastating mental, emotional, and physical consequences for their families,” Mr Okwor lamented.
He added, “While Emmanuel Odu, a former SUG president of the University of Cross River, is the only son of his parents, Vincent Ndifon is a young father with an infant child.”
“We are therefore appealing to the President and father of the nation, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene and mandate the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to mobilise a search-and-rescue team to secure their release,” he pleaded.
