Ogun State is set to strengthen its criminal justice system with proposed legislation that will require the immediate reporting of missing persons, ending the long-standing practice of waiting 24 or 48 hours before notifying law enforcement authorities.
The proposed reform is contained in one of four criminal justice bills recently approved by the Ogun State Executive Council for transmission to the State House of Assembly.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), disclosed the details during an interview on Frontline on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, explaining that the Missing Persons Bill is aimed at accelerating investigations, improving rescue operations and enhancing collaboration among security agencies.
According to him, the legislation seeks to eliminate delays that often frustrate efforts to locate missing persons, stressing that the first few hours after a disappearance are critical to successful rescue operations.
“You probably would be aware of this practice where people report others as missing and are normally advised to wait for 24 hours or 48 hours before coming. That is now being outlawed. There is now a duty to report as early as possible,” Ogungbade said.
He noted that research consistently shows the first 24 hours after a disappearance are the most crucial in tracing missing persons and increasing the chances of a successful recovery.
The Attorney-General explained that the bill would also impose penalties on individuals who deliberately fail to promptly report the disappearance of persons whose whereabouts they are reasonably expected to know.
“And where a person who ought to report—for example, a father who knows his child is missing, or a mother who knows her daughter is missing, or somebody whose presence or location they should know—is missing and fails to do so, it carries a penalty under this law,” he stated.
Ogungbade revealed that his ministry receives numerous reports of missing persons involving both children and adults, lamenting that existing legal provisions often slow investigations because security agencies face bureaucratic obstacles in obtaining critical information.
He cited unresolved disappearance cases, including that of a former student who reportedly went missing after leaving Olabisi Onabanjo University to visit her boyfriend in Sagamu, as well as another woman who disappeared in Ota, saying investigators frequently encounter delays in accessing banking, telecommunications and other records needed to trace victims.
“It’s been one challenge or the other getting access to data that would help law enforcement track their movements,” he said.
To address these challenges, the proposed legislation would establish a coordinated framework involving the Ministry of Justice, the Nigeria Police Force and the judiciary to facilitate quicker access to vital records required during investigations.
“There will be collaboration between my office and the Office of the Commissioner of Police that is expressly stated in the bill, and also with the judiciary. This bill makes provision for the police or any law enforcement agency to apply ex parte to obtain certain records from service providers. In extreme cases, the police can write directly to the person holding those records to make them available under penalty of law,” he explained.
The bill also introduces emergency response protocols for child abduction cases by requiring immediate alerts to transport unions, motor parks and other relevant stakeholders to prevent abducted children from being moved out of the state.
“My office will be working in concert with the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, putting certain people on standby. Because in most cases, when a child is abducted, the first thing is to transport that child outside Ogun State. So there will be protocols in place, including alerting all major motor parks and transport unions,” Ogungbade said.
He added that the proposed framework is designed to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks that delay investigations while strengthening coordination among security agencies, particularly as discussions on state policing continue across the country.
According to him, the overall objective is to ensure prompt reporting, faster investigations and greater chances of locating missing persons before crucial evidence is lost or victims are moved beyond the state’s borders.
Beyond missing persons, the Attorney-General disclosed that the Ogun State Government is also proposing a dedicated law to combat ritual killings by specifically criminalising the use of human beings and human body parts for ritual purposes.
He explained that while suspects are currently prosecuted under existing laws for murder or unlawful handling of human remains, the government believes a separate legal framework is needed to directly target the practice and its underlying motivations.
“What we have been doing in Ogun State, and I believe elsewhere, is charging persons involved in ritual killings for murder and, in some cases, tampering with human remains. While those offences attract severe penalties, including death sentences, they do not directly address the root issue. We believe there should be a law that specifically criminalises rituals involving the use of human parts,” he said.
Ogungbade expressed confidence that the proposed legislation would significantly strengthen the fight against ritual killings and human sacrifice, describing it as a comprehensive legal intervention capable of setting a new standard for addressing the menace across Nigeria.
