11 years of silence: Edo family begs for answers after brother vanishes in Belgium

Anthony Isabor called his mother the day he arrived in Belgium. That was March 2015. He hasn't been heard from since.

Eleven years and three months later, his family is still waiting for answers. No call. No letter. No sign of whether he's alive or dead.

"That uncertainty is worse than bad news," said Sunday Joseph Isabor, Anthony's younger brother, in an exclusive interview with Arewa PUNCH.

Anthony was a final-year student and a teacher at a nursery and primary school before he travelled. He left Nigeria on March 5, 2015, from Orhiomnwon Local Government Area in Edo State. The trip was arranged by a cousin, Doris Usiagwu, who lives in Belgium.

Sunday says his family has done everything they can think of. They reported the case to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in March 2022. They petitioned the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Nigerian Ambassador to Belgium. They sent fresh petitions to successive NAPTIP leaderships. Nothing worked.

"A human being can't just vanish. Somewhere, somehow, the truth exists," Sunday cried.

Last year, the family tracked the suspect — Doris Usiagwu — as she sneaked into Nigeria for her younger brother's wedding. Sunday alerted NAPTIP immediately. He says the agency did nothing before she left the country again.

Sunday also tried to get help from powerful Nigerians. He visited the home of retired General Theophilus Danjuma four times but was turned away each time. He met with former Vice President General Oladipo Diya shortly before his death, but Diya was too sick to help. An aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo told him to write a letter to Obasanjo. He did. No response. The aide eventually stopped taking his calls.

The one official who made a difference was former Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki.

"Godwin Obaseki really tried for our family; I won't lie," Sunday said. "His involvement revealed so many ugly things about human trafficking in Nigeria and across our borders, but unfortunately, these efforts came late. It was already getting to the expiration of his tenure as governor."

Sunday, who lives in Yola, Adamawa State, where his father served as a military personnel, says the family is trapped in a painful limbo. June 9 was Anthony's birthday — another painful reminder of his absence.

"My family can no longer endure the silence," he said. "We're begging anyone with any useful information to kindly contact the nearest Police Station or your office."