By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The wife of a Globacom employee, Olaoluwa Adetona, Funmi Adetona, has appealed to the telecommunications company, security agencies and other relevant authorities to provide answers concerning the whereabouts of her husband, who she said has been missing since May 6, 2025.
Funmi disclosed this while speaking with journalists, explaining that Olaoluwa, a 49-year-old roll-out manager with Globacom, was allegedly abducted in Imo State while on an official site acquisition assignment with two expatriates who had travelled from Lagos.
She said she was compelled to speak publicly after enduring more than a year without seeing or speaking with her husband.
Narrating the events leading to his disappearance, the 46-year-old said she first became suspicious on the evening of May 6, 2025, when she called her husband’s line and an unidentified person answered.
She said the person initially told her he would hand the phone to Olaoluwa whenever he saw him, but became abusive when she called back to insist on speaking with her husband directly.
“I called my husband around 9pm. They did not reach out to us from the office. Nobody contacted me until I called and started making inquiries,” she said.
Funmi said she subsequently contacted her husband’s housemaid in Imo State, who told her that she too had been trying unsuccessfully to reach Olaoluwa.
It was later disclosed to her, she said, that her husband had allegedly been kidnapped.
The distraught wife disclosed that the two expatriates who were reportedly with Olaoluwa at the time had since been released, while her husband remained missing, a development she said had raised troubling questions for the family.
She alleged that persons in possession of her husband’s phone had demanded N1 million before she could speak with him, a demand she said she reported to some of his colleagues, only to be advised against calling the number again, as the company was reportedly handling the matter.
She said she was subsequently informed that ransom payments had been made and that her husband would be released, an assurance that never materialised.
“They said they were bringing him back in the course of the week. It happened on a Tuesday. All through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they were saying they were bringing him,” she said.
As the family’s frustration grew over the inability to establish Olaoluwa’s fate, Funmi said she travelled to Lagos to meet officials of Globacom, including the Head of the Roll-out Department and the company’s Chief Security Officer, in a bid to obtain information.
She said the family was initially told that the company was unaware of the incident, before officials later acknowledged having heard about it.
The family also travelled to Imo State and visited the police over the matter, she said, adding that officers had told them a confrontational meeting involving Globacom officials was necessary to clarify what happened. Despite several visits and inquiries, she said, the family received no satisfactory explanation.
“What is it that you are working on from May, June, July, August, September and November? At the end of the day, they couldn’t tell us anything. They kept saying they were working on it,” she said.
Funmi said the family returned to Lagos in November 2025 after receiving little information, even as assurances that the company was working to resolve the matter continued. She alleged that officials had, at some point, visited the family to express concern and offer reassurance, but that subsequent communication stopped altogether.
She said the prolonged uncertainty had taken a severe toll on the family, particularly Olaoluwa’s three children.
“My children are not seeing their daddy and they keep asking me every day, ‘Where is their dad?’ I tell them that he went on a trip and that he is coming back very soon. But it is over a year now. How long do I continue telling them that? Before this happened, he used to come home every fortnight to check on us. Now, for more than a year, we have not seen him,” she said.
Funmi disclosed that the emotional weight of the disappearance had also affected Olaoluwa’s immediate family, revealing that her father-in-law died on April 6, 2026, after reportedly becoming distressed over his son’s disappearance. The family, she said, had since buried him, adding that her mother-in-law had also fallen seriously ill and could no longer walk without assistance.
Questioning reports concerning her husband’s vehicle, Funmi said the family was informed that it had been found after allegedly being shot at, but maintained that they saw no evidence to establish that Olaoluwa had been killed.
“We saw the vehicle. There is no way somebody would be shot and there would not be a splash of blood in the vehicle. There was no drop of blood. How could you tell me he might have been shot? Maybe the bullet hit him and he died somewhere. Even if he is dead, give us proof. There is no proof that he is dead,” she said.
The wife stressed that she was not accusing any individual or organisation of wrongdoing but wanted the circumstances surrounding her husband’s disappearance clarified, appealing to Globacom and security agencies to intensify efforts to locate him and provide the family with credible information.
“I don’t know. Are they playing on us? They should produce my husband,” she said.
Funmi disclosed that the family had engaged a lawyer to formally communicate with Globacom on the matter, adding that the lawyer had written about four letters to the company seeking clarification and action, after previous attempts by other lawyers representing the family failed to produce a response.
She further revealed that Globacom had continued paying her husband’s salary into her account as of September 2025, despite his continued absence, a development she said had reinforced the family’s desire to understand the company’s position on his status.
“Globacom should produce my husband. At least the expatriates, they have them. My husband is a Nigerian. Why are they not looking for him? Why are they not doing anything about it?” she asked.
As of the time of filing this report, the family said it was still awaiting a clear account of what happened to Olaoluwa and his whereabouts, and appealed for renewed efforts by the company, security agencies and other stakeholders to establish the fate of the missing Globacom employee.
