My brother missing while wife still mourning baby’s death – Sister

Goodness Nwala, sister of 36-year-old Victor Nwala, who has been missing since April 7, 2026, in Enugu, tells TEMITOPE ADETUNJI about their family’s desperate search for him

Tell us about your relationship with Victor Nwala.

He is my elder brother. We are from Port Harcourt, but I currently reside in Abuja. We are three siblings in total — two boys and one girl, and I am the lastborn. My other brother stays in Port Harcourt with my mother.

I came to Abuja initially as a domestic worker, but I now live on my own. I have a salon where I work as a hairdresser. Our father passed away in 2003; I could not even meet him. My mother raised all of us alone.

What kind of person is Victor, and how old is he?

My brother is a simple and friendly person. He easily connects with people and likes to understand those around him. Anytime he finds himself in a new environment, he tries to be friendly so he can understand the people there and not feel left out.

He also enjoys helping others whenever he can. He recently moved to Enugu to work as a security guard. He is 36 years old.

When did Victor start working as a security officer, and what do you know about his job?

From what I can recall, it was around last December when he told me he had got a job as a security officer in Enugu and needed my help to sign a form. I told him the location was quite far, especially considering that he has a family in Port Harcourt — his wife and his daughter.

His wife already had a daughter before marrying him, so he only has one biological child, and sadly, the baby they later had did not survive. At that time, my phone was faulty, so I asked him to send the document to my immediate elder brother instead.

I wasn’t physically with him in Port Harcourt, so I cannot say the exact date he resumed work. However, according to his wife, he had been working there for over three months.

He was employed by St. Christopher Security Agency, serving as a security officer at a large construction site where an unfinished building was still under construction.

When did you first hear that Victor went missing?

I was informed last month (April). On Thursday, his wife called me to say she received a call that Victor had been missing since Monday, April 7. She said he bathed, prepared his food, had plugged his phone in at work, and told his colleagues he was stepping out around 7 pm to get something, but he never returned.

What did you do after receiving that information?

After she told me, I asked her to send me the contact information of the person who called her. But earlier, on Tuesday, April 8, after returning from church fellowship, I called my brother’s number and someone else picked it up. I was angry and asked why another person was answering his phone, and then I ended the call.

Did you later speak with the person who answered his phone?

Yes. When I called the number his wife sent, it was the same person. He said Victor left his phone behind, went out to get something, and hasn’t come back since Monday.

I asked if the company had been informed. He said the site manager was not around yet, but they would report it when he arrived. I insisted they should escalate it immediately and begin a search for him.

What did you discover about where he worked?

When I got there, I discovered it was a large unfinished hotel building belonging to a politician. My brother’s job is to secure construction materials at the site. My brother has been working there as a security officer.

What is Victor’s educational background?

He is not a graduate.

Did Victor’s colleagues give consistent accounts of what happened?

No, they did not. One colleague said nothing unusual happened — that Victor only said he was stepping out to buy something, left his food and phone charging, and never returned.

But another colleague gave a completely different story when I went to Enugu. Even the statement at the police station was different from what I had been told earlier.

This confusion made me very worried, but the police did not take it seriously. They only kept saying they would look into it.

What were the different explanations you were given about his disappearance?

One version was that Victor bathed, dressed up, prepared food, and then stepped out, leaving his phone and food behind, and said he wanted to get something.

Another version said he had been helping a carpenter on the site and later sneaked out when the site owner arrived. The accounts were completely inconsistent. Another thing is that I thought my brother had two phones, but later discovered it was just one.

What did you do after realising the matter was not being taken seriously?

I stayed in Enugu for about a week in a hotel. When I saw that nothing serious was being done, I returned to Abuja to seek help from my pastors, who promised to support me in pushing the case further.

How has the company responded since Victor disappeared?

The company has not given us any clear explanation. I have not been able to meet any management staff. Even when I call, they do not show up.

During the week I stayed in Enugu, nobody from the company came forward. Even when a search was supposed to be arranged, they promised to send a representative, but no one came.

What do you know about the circumstances surrounding your brother’s phone?

My brother had two phones. One of them was an Android phone he uses to chat with me. I later found out that the phone originally belonged to a carpenter on the site.

From what I was told, the carpenter had a broken phone belonging to his mother. My brother gave him N6,000, and in exchange, the carpenter gave him that phone.

I am not fully aware of the exact agreement between them, but according to a security staff member, N6,000 was the amount involved in the exchange when my brother took the phone.

After my brother went missing, the carpenter later approached another security officer on the site and gave him N6,000, so he could retrieve the phone. The security officer collected the money and returned the phone to him.

My brother’s main phone (a small handset) has since been taken to the police station.

Is your mother aware that Victor is missing?

No. My mother is not aware yet. She is recovering from a heart condition, and we are trying not to give her anything that could worsen her health. I have been telling her that my brother travelled.

How has your brother’s disappearance affected your family?

It has been a heartbreaking and devastating. We are confused and in deep pain every day. To make it worse, Victor’s wife recently gave birth through surgery, but the baby did not survive. She is still in the hospital recovering from that loss, while her husband remains missing.

Our family is carrying too much grief at once; it is a lot on her and us. Imagine carrying a pregnancy for months, holding onto hope, preparing for a life you believed was finally complete, and then going through the pain of childbirth, only for things to take a tragic turn that required an operation.

After all the struggle, all the prayers, the baby still didn’t survive. In that moment, everything changes. Grief does not come alone; it comes with questions that have no answers, silence that feels too loud, and nights that feel endless.

Then, just when she needed support the most, when she needed her partner to grieve with her, to hold her hand through the pain, he was nowhere to be found.

What message do you have for the relevant authorities, especially the police, about your missing brother?

We are pleading for urgent help in finding my brother. This case should not be ignored.

Every day without him is painful because we do not know where he is or what has happened. We are asking the authorities to investigate properly and help us bring him back  so we can have closure.

Why do you feel the case has not received serious attention?

I feel that if I had money or influential people, the case would be treated differently. But because I don’t, it feels like we are being ignored. That should not be so.

What is your greatest hope right now?

My greatest hope right now is simply to find my brother alive. There is nothing I wish for more than that moment — the moment I will see him again, hear his voice again, and know that this pain and uncertainty are finally over. Every day feels like I am holding my breath, waiting for news that never seems to come.

I cannot do without him. It is not just about missing him; it is about the emptiness his absence has created in our lives, a space that nothing else can fill. My thoughts are constantly with him, wondering where he is, what happened, and if he is somewhere out there needing help.

All I want is for him to come back home. That is my greatest hope — not wealth, not comfort — just my brother back alive and safe.