By Joshua Weng Chuwang
The two visually impaired students who were reportedly missing from the Special Secondary School for the Blind in Opefia Community, Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have been found.
The Police and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) confirmed their rescue to Channels Television on Saturday, September 13, 2025, when a spokesperson in the Ebonyi State Police Command, Joshua Ukandu, revealed that the rescue mission was facilitated by a phone call to one of the parents.
“The students were found in Enugu State, while begging, and they have been handed over to their parents,” Ukandu said. He also added that they were received in a good state of health while reuniting with their parents.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission in Ebonyi State, Christopher Okorie, disclosed that the students, Augustine Onwunyiruba, a 17-year-old male in JSS3, and Lawrence Onyenaturuchukwu, a 16-year-old female in SS1, were reportedly threatened in their school by some senior students, thus their disappearance on June 5, 2025.
“Today, September 12, 2025, the NHRC Ebonyi State office is pleased to announce that the children declared missing from Ebonyi State Special School for the Blind, Opefia, Izzi LGA, Ebonyi State, three months ago, on June 5, have been found. They were found around Abakpa Nike, Enugu, where they were surviving through begging. We thank the general public, especially members of the Press, for providing the necessary information that led to the tracing and identification of the said children.”
