POLICE LAUNCH INVESTIGATION AS 24-YEAR-OLD CORPS MEMBER GOES MISSING IN BAYELSA
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Bayelsa State Police Command has declared Mr. Levi Anyanwu, a 24-year-old member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with registration number BYS/25A/0244, missing.
It was gathered that operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command have begun an investigation to uncover the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Anyanwu, whose place of primary assignment is the Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama, in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was last seen on October 8, 2025.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Police Public Relations Officer, Musa Mohammed, the command said it had directed the Anti-Kidnapping Unit to take immediate measures to locate and produce the missing corps member.
According to the police, Anyanwu was believed to be with his fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses worshippers, identified as Mr. and Mrs. Wisdom George, but the couple stated that although he was with them earlier, he left afterward.
The statement read in part: “On 10/10/25, one Mr. Oke Emmanuel, a corps member and roommate of the missing person, was invited and interrogated. He confirmed that the subject was last seen with the George family until 06/10/25.”
Further disclosures by Mr. George indicated that the corps member had complained of illness and was taken to the Kaiama Referral Hospital on October 4, 2025, where he was treated and discharged the next day. However, on October 6, he reportedly disappeared to an unknown destination.
The police are also probing an alleged extortion of ₦100,000 from the victim’s parents by two inmates of the Igbara Correctional Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, who posed as kidnappers.
The statement added: “The missing corps member’s phone was left in his apartment. Detectives traced a GSM call from 0906193291 to an inmate at Igbara Correctional Custodian Centre, Abeokuta, already detained in connection with a kidnapping case.
The suspect claimed they found the victim’s father’s number on social media and decided to exploit it. The sum of ₦100,000 was paid into an Opay account belonging to one Atinuke Oluwalose, a close associate of the detained inmate.”
Police investigations also revealed that the missing corps member may have been troubled by personal and religious conflicts, as hinted by statements made to close associates before his disappearance.
“Findings by detectives suggest a disturbing realisation that may have influenced the victim’s actions. Certain recent social preferences and appetites he expressed appeared to conflict with his religious beliefs,” the police noted.
The command, however, ruled out kidnapping in the incident, stating that investigations were ongoing to “ensure proper closure and clarity on the matter.”
The case has drawn comparisons to a similar incident in 2024, when Yahya Faruq, a corps member serving in Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, went missing. The Rivers State Police Command later arrested four suspects in connection with that disappearance.
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