Nigerian woman seeks public help to find siblings taken to Cameroon 30 years ago
A Nigerian woman, Lister Mathew Osas, has appealed to the public to help her mother locate her three children (her siblings), who were allegedly taken away by their Cameroonian father in Kaduna more than 30 years ago.
A Nigerian woman, Lister Mathew Osas, has appealed to the public to help her mother locate her three children (her siblings), who were allegedly taken away by their Cameroonian father in Kaduna more than 30 years ago.
In an emotional video shared on Instagram, Osas said her mother, a native of Cross River State, has lived with the pain of losing her children for three decades and has refused to leave Kaduna in the hope that they would one day return.
According to her, the incident occurred in the 1990s when her mother was living with a Cameroonian man identified as Alfred Dibong Mandeng in Kaduna. She said her mother worked as a hospital clerk and would leave the children with their father while at work.
Recounting the incident, Osas said her mother returned home one day to discover that both the man and the children had disappeared.
“My mom came back from work and all three of her children had disappeared, including the man,” she said. Nigerian woman seeks public help to find siblings taken to Cameroon 30 years ago. Credit: IG | lisa_mbarga
She explained that neighbours helped her mother trace them to another residence in Kaduna, but after briefly leaving to get some belongings, she returned to find that they had vanished again.
“By the time she came back, this time he had moved countries with the children,” she said.
Osas disclosed that at the time of the alleged abduction, the eldest child, Antonia Dibong Mandeng, was six years old, Maxwell Dibong Mandeng was four, while the youngest, Victoria Dibong Mandeng, was about two or three years old.
She said her mother has remained emotionally attached to Kaduna ever since, believing she might one day reunite with her children.
“My mom has lived all her life in Kaduna. If you try to take her out of Kaduna back to the South where she’s from, Cross River, she falls sick,” she said.
“I’ve noticed that it feels like she’s staying back in Kaduna because she just has this belief that one day she would have closure,” she added.
Osas said becoming a mother herself made her better understand the emotional burden her mother has carried over the years.
“I think my mom just deserves closure and I’m going to help her in any way I can,” she said.
She described the disappearance of the three children as an act of cruelty, adding that her mother still grieves despite trying to hide the pain.
“I’ve seen her cry at different times for this thing. She tries to cover it so I don’t get to see it, but I see it,” she said.
Appealing for assistance, Osas urged anyone with information about the family to come forward, noting that the children would now be adults in their 30s.
“I’m making this video to please beg anybody that can help my mother find her children, whether they are alive or dead, just give her closure,” she pleaded.
“If this video can be shared, if you know bloggers who are in Cameroon who can actually help me help my mom find her children, please help me,” she added.
She added, “Before she leaves this world, she deserves some sort of closure. Three children… nobody should go through this.”
Osas said the family believes the children’s father is from Douala, Cameroon, and expressed hope that social media and public support could help reunite the family after more than three decades apart.
𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐨
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