Little Franko Barnabas only 10 years of age from Lese Oalai, a small village in Gulf province went missing around 2:30pm on Thursday 24th of March 2022 at Gordons in the Nation’s Capital.
Jenny Toivita the mother of the missing boy says she brought in her 3 sons from the village because they were sick and took them to Gerehu General Hospital to seek medical treatment however it has only been two weeks into her visit and she has lost her son.
Ms Toivata said they are simple village folks and her kids know very little of the city and she is worried that her son may be having a hard time out there.
“Ol pikinini blo mi no save lo Mosbi gut, mipla sa stap long ples (My children do not know Port Moresby city very well). Ol liklik na bigpla long ples tasol (They have grown up in the village). Ol I no save long wanpla man lo Mosbi na mi save osem pikinini blo mi em poret bikos em liklik na em sa toktok liklik tasol (They do not know anyone else in Port Moresby and I know that my son is definitely scared and alone out there because he rarely talks to anyone).”
Ms Toivita says, she left her second born son Eugene Barnabas at home with little Franko and headed for the market (Gordons) with her first born son, but minutes later Eugene ran out of the house and left little Franko without any supervision.
Ms Toivita said, Franko ran out of her elder brother’s house at Gordons where they have been residing for the last 2 weeks and was missing from then on.
She filed a missing persons report firstly at Gordon’s police station and then at Boroko and Hohola Police Stations around 9am on Friday 25th of March 2022.
According to Senior Constable Bairen Jimbe, they have filled in an OB entry and have asked Ms Toivita to bring in a picture and other important details (colour of clothes he was last seen in, description of how he looks like, etc.) to complete the missing persons report but she hasn’t gone in yet.
Whilst speaking to the PNGFM News team this morning, Ms Toivita said she has informed friends, family and familiar faces around Gordons to keep an eye out for her son.
With deep sadness, Ms Toivita is appealing to the general public in NCD and especially around Gordons area to report to the 3 police stations mentioned above if they come across a little boy walking alone and to make sure to ask him for his name & if it is him or if they have any information to call up the stations.