How Nigerian woman reunited with her missing son after 3 years through Facebook (photos)

- A Nigerian woman whose son went missing three years ago has been reunited with him - The young boy was taken by some unknown persons when he closed from school one fateful day - Through the help of Facebook, he was able to contact his mother and they met again A Nigerian woman identified as Hajiya Binta Abba Umar has shared what she was made to go through after one of her children went missing three years ago. The boy, Suleiman, now 15, was said to have been taken away by some unknown persons on Tuesday, January 6, 2014. Umar, who was appointed as a special adviser on girl-child issue to Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina about that time, went through a lot as there were speculations that she used her missing son for rituals and that must have been the reason doors opened at that time. According to the grieving mother, she went through hell as she prayed to God for Him to make her see him dead or alive so she could move on from that point. The missing boy was the fourth of seven children but she was not ready to let go.

Her daughter had told her that the boy was not in school and not at home on the day he went missing. She contacted the father and together, they began a search. The case was reported at a police station as they checked hospitals and mortuaries. 

The poor woman then said she and the other family members then resorted to prayers. The family reportedly lived with that pain with things going sour when one of the children, Khalifa, became deformed and immobile. He was writing his final exams in a secondary school when he was afflicted with the sickness. He was taken to many hospitals in Nigeria and outside without a solution proffered. Again, Umar revealed that they turned to God and He answered their prayers. Khalifa got well and they continued the search for Suleiman. Suleiman was reunited with his family after three years. Source: Facebook, Rariya. Everything changed while Umar was in Kaduna for a workshop. Her young son woke her from her sleep to answer a phone and she heard her missing son on the other end. She was overwhelmed with emotion as she asked all sorts of question.

Everything changed while Umar was in Kaduna for a workshop. Her young son woke her from her sleep to answer a phone and she heard her missing son on the other end. She was overwhelmed with emotion as she asked all sorts of question.


There and then, she discovered the he was in Lagos living with some people who had to relocate from Maiduguri because of the dreaded Boko Haram attacks. The shaken mother tried all she could to get on the next flight to Lagos. It was not until noon that they were able to find a ticket for her. Umar got to Lagos and located her son. He was different from the little boy that went missing because of the hardship he had to endure. Suleiman also shared his part of the story claiming Facebook helped him find his mother.

“I regained consciousness only to find myself on a pile of corpses by a beach, some with missing heads or limbs. I was terrified," he narrated. A sign-post he read made him know he was in Lagos. He slept at the beach for a while as he basically went into the city to find menial jobs that would help him survive. "I visited food vendors, pushed disabled people on wheelchairs for a commission of their takings for the day, sometimes as low as N100 daily,” he said. He became friends with one Muhammed and started living with him and the other young boys struggling to survive. He was quiet and this made everyone think he could not speak. He claimed to have dreamt about his family one night and this made him speak the next day.

Suleiman told them about his parents and they came up with various ideas. He went with the idea of finding his mother on Facebook. When he finally sent Umar a friend request, she did not respond for a while. They tried checking mutual friends and they found one of his cousins. The young boy accepted the friend request but he thought he was an internet fraudster who wanted to take advantage of the family. At the long run, he was able to get his mother’s number from him and he called her. Even though he has found his family, Suleiman plans to check the other boys in Lagos after Sallah celebration. He is being taken care of by his family who feels he needs to go through rehab. He had applied to a firm in Lekki asking to be their cleaner. He wanted to do this in order to go to school. Umar is glad her son is back as she has been vindicated. Those who initially thought she used him for ritual can now stop spreading lies about her.