Despite that, the police said they had not reached a dead end as investigation was still ongoing.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone on Monday, said, “What we did was to see whether the fingerprints found on his car would match those of the arrested suspects but none matched.
“All the suspects arrested were picked on circumstances and they have all been released when there was nothing linking them with the incident.
“No clue was left on the man’s vehicle. The vehicle was carefully parked off the road and there was no sign of struggle in it. With this, we cannot say he was abducted. We are still treating the case as that of a missing person.”
Braide added the fingerprints analysis was done at the Police Force Forensic Laboratory, Lagos.
Also, a police source corroborated Braide’s position that the case remained that of a missing person. Besides, the source said the police would not give up until they reached a dead end.
The dead end, according to him, will take at least seven years after the man had been declared missing.
The source said, “Police have not given up. Before we can think about that, it will take at least seven years.
“But even after that, if there is an important lead, the police will follow it to see if the lead could unravel the mystery.”
Asked whether any of the leads police worked on led to any clue, the source said none was viable enough for the police to rely on.
He said, “You remember that Governor Babatunde Fashola promised a certain amount of money as a reward for whoever provides information on the missing man and of course, some people came with different information. But we discovered they are mainly speculations that did not lead to anything.”
Gawat, who is the anchorman of an Islamic TV programme during Ramadan, E didè e ji sari, a broadcast programme on Nigerian Television Authority Channel 10, was suspected to have been abducted around Apongbon-end of Eko Bridge, Lagos Island.
The victim’s car was found but no contact was made with his family.
Explaining how Gawat’s vehicle was found, General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Mr. Babatunde Edu, had said officials of LASTMA recovered the abandoned black-coloured 4RUNNER Toyota SUV with number plate RE 77 AAA at 11:45p.m on July 10.
According to him, the vehicle was parked close to the kerb with no sign of accident except that the hazard light of the vehicle was on and the four doors locked.
“Our officials, thinking that the unknown occupant (s) had run out of fuel and had gone to source for same or in dire need of assistance, and to ensure the safety of the occupant (s) and also render assistance if need be, formed a search group to look out for the owner of the vehicle,” Edu said.
He added that the search went on for over an hour with no trace of the owner.
Courtesy: Punch Nigeria
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