Wife, Children Wait as Glo Manager Remains Missing 16 Months On

…Family appeals to company, security agencies for intervention

 

The wife of a Globacom employee, Mr Olaoluwa Adetona, has appealed to the telecommunications company, security agencies and relevant authorities to intensify efforts to establish the whereabouts of her husband, who she said has been missing since he was allegedly abducted in Imo State in May 2025.

Adetona, 49, who works as a roll-out manager in Globacom’s roll-out department, was allegedly kidnapped on May 6, 2025, while carrying out a site acquisition assignment in Imo State, according to his wife, Funmi.

Speaking about the development, Funmi said she first became suspicious after calling her husband on the evening of May 6, 2025, only for an unknown person to answer his phone.

She said when she asked to speak with the owner of the phone, the person allegedly insulted her before refusing to hand the phone over to her husband.

According to her, repeated attempts to reach her husband through his other telephone line were unsuccessful, prompting her to contact his housemate in Imo State.

She said the housemate initially told her that he had also been unable to reach Olaoluwa since morning.

Funmi said the housemaid later informed her that her husband had allegedly been kidnapped.

She explained that her husband had gone out for a site acquisition assignment with two expatriates who had reportedly travelled from Lagos, adding that she was later informed that the two expatriates were released while her husband remained in captivity.

She said the development became more troubling because she was not contacted by the company immediately after the alleged incident.

According to her, she only began making inquiries after she learnt of the incident herself.

“Since that day till now, I have not spoken with my husband. I have not heard his voice or received any direct communication from him,” she said.

Funmi further alleged that the people who had possession of her husband’s telephone later demanded N1m before she could speak with him.

She said when she informed some of his colleagues, she was advised not to make further calls because the company was handling the situation.

She claimed that she was subsequently informed that ransom payments had been made and that her husband would be brought back, but the promised return did not happen.

The wife said the incident occurred on a Tuesday and that throughout Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the family was repeatedly told that Olaoluwa would soon be released.

She expressed concern over what she described as inadequate communication between the company and the family.

Funmi said she later travelled to Lagos to meet officials of Globacom, including the Head of the Roll-out Department and the company’s Chief Security Officer, in an effort to obtain information about her husband.

According to her, she was initially told that officials were unaware of the incident, but she insisted that the company ought to have information about an employee who allegedly disappeared while carrying out an official assignment.

She said she and other family members also travelled to Imo State, where they visited the police and sought assistance in tracing her husband.

“From May, June, July, August, September and even November, we kept hearing that they were working on it. But nobody could tell us exactly what was happening,” she said.

Funmi said the family also met with Globacom officials in Lagos in November after receiving little or no information for several months.

She alleged that the family was repeatedly assured that efforts were ongoing to locate Olaoluwa, but that no concrete information about his whereabouts was subsequently communicated to them.

The development, she said, had taken a heavy toll on the family, particularly their three children, who continue to ask about their father.

She explained that before his disappearance, Olaoluwa regularly travelled between Imo State and Ibadan to see his family, adding that his prolonged absence had been difficult for the children to understand.

“My children are not seeing their daddy and they keep asking me every day, ‘Where is our daddy?’ I tell them that he went on a trip and that he will soon return.

“But it is over a year now. How long do I continue telling them that? He is across the country. Before this happened, he used to come home every fortnight to check on us and then return to work. Now, for over a year, we have not seen him,” she said.

Funmi also disclosed that the disappearance had affected Olaoluwa’s wider family, particularly his mother.

She said her father-in-law died on April 6, 2026, after reportedly struggling emotionally with the disappearance of his son.

According to her, the family buried him recently, adding that the prolonged uncertainty surrounding Olaoluwa’s whereabouts had compounded the family’s grief.

Funmi said Olaoluwa’s mother had also become seriously ill and was now unable to walk without assistance.

“It has been very difficult for everybody. My children, his siblings and his mother are all affected. I have to remain strong because of the children,” she said.

She disclosed that she and her husband had been married since May 6, 2025, the same date she said he disappeared adding that they have three children.

The distressed wife also raised questions over reports allegedly presented to the family concerning her husband’s vehicle.

She said the family was informed that security operatives had found the vehicle and that it had been shot at, with suggestions that Olaoluwa might have been killed.

However, she said the family had not been presented with evidence establishing that he was dead.

“We saw the vehicle. There is no way somebody would be shot and there would not be blood in the vehicle. There was no drop of blood. If he is dead, give us proof. There is no proof that he is dead,” she said.

Funmi stressed that her primary demand was not to accuse anyone but to know what happened to her husband.

“I don’t know what is happening. Are they playing on us? They should produce my husband,” she said.

She particularly questioned why the two expatriates who were reportedly abducted alongside Olaoluwa were released while her Nigerian husband remained missing.

“The expatriates are out. How did they come out? Why is it my husband alone? My husband is a Nigerian. Why are they not looking for him? Why are they not doing anything?” she asked.

Funmi also disclosed that Globacom had continued paying her husband’s salary into her account since sometime in September 2025, despite his continued absence.

She said the family recently engaged a lawyer , to formally demand answers from the company.

According to her, the lawyer had written several letters to Globacom concerning the matter, with about four letters reportedly sent so far.

She said previous attempts by other lawyers to communicate with the company had allegedly not yielded the desired response.

Funmi appealed to Globacom, the police, the Department of State Services and other relevant authorities to provide the family with clear information about the case and intensify efforts to locate her husband.

“What I want is for them to bring my husband back to me. If he is alive, let them find him and bring him home. If anything has happened to him, let the family be given the truth and evidence.

“We cannot continue like this. It has been 16 months. We need to know where our husband, father and son is,” she said.