Boy Missing at 14, Found in Port Harcourt Prison 18 Years Later Mentally Unstable

A boy missing at 14 has been found in Port Harcourt Prison 18 years later, mentally unstable.

Philips News reports that the mysterious disappearance of a 14-year-old boy in Rivers State, southern Nigeria, believed to have ended in tragedy, has taken a shocking turn nearly two decades later after he was reportedly found alive inside the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.

This online newspaper understands that the boy identified as Gospel Kinanee, who vanished in 2007 while playing with friends, was discovered in prison 18 years later — mentally unstable and unable to recognise members of his family.

In an interview with PUNCH, his elder brother said Gospel was only 14 years old when he suddenly disappeared from their community. He had spent the day with family members before stepping out to play with his peers, returning briefly to eat before leaving again — a moment that would become the last time they saw him for nearly two decades. When he failed to return home that evening, panic set in as family members launched a desperate search.

“We searched everywhere for him, including police stations, hospitals and prison yards, but we could not find him,” his brother recounted. As days turned into years with no trace of Gospel, the emotional toll became unbearable for the family, with both parents reportedly dying the same year following the heartbreak of their son’s disappearance.

Asked what happened to Gospel, his elder brother said: “Gospel went missing in 2007. He was around 14 years old when the incident happened. On that fateful day, we were all together during the day. In the afternoon, he went out to play with his peers. He came back home to eat and later went out again to play, but he never returned home.

“We noticed he was missing around 8 pm or 9 pm when he did not come back home to sleep. My parents and everyone else were worried. We searched everywhere for him, but we could not find him.

“Normally, when he goes outside to play, he comes back in the evening, but on that particular day, he went missing, and we could not find him. We waited till the following day for him to come back home because we thought maybe he had gone home with one of his friends to pass the night.

“We continued the search the next day, but we still could not find him. We searched the entire community for him but could not find him. We thought it was a joke, but when the search continued for four days and we still could not find him, we became more worried.

“We searched everywhere, including police stations, hospitals, and prison yards. His disappearance led to the death of my father and mother. They both died the same year when the pain became too much for them to bear,” he told PUNCH.

Asked how he found Gospel, his elder brother said: “As years passed by, we became tired of looking for him and gave up because we thought he was already dead. But to my surprise, early in 2025, I got a call from someone saying that some people were looking for me and that they had found my brother, Gospel.

“I told them that my brother was dead because we had searched for him for years and given up, only for someone to call me 18 years later, saying he had been found.

“So, I did not believe the person, but they told me that he was not dead and that they had found him in the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.

“They insisted that I come to the correctional centre and see him. I still didn’t believe them because we already thought he was dead, and maybe it was another person they saw and mistook for my brother.

“They told me that he was discovered in the correctional centre by a group of lawyers who were on a prison welfare and inmate rehabilitation mission. They said I should come because my brother would be released to me.

“When I got to the lawyers’ office, I met the team lead, Cyrus Onu. He interviewed me, and we completed some documentation. They took me to the Director of the Correctional Centre.

“Immediately I got there, I saw my brother outside, but he could no longer recognise me. I broke down in tears because I recognised him, and he was not looking sane at all. He had been in prison for 18 years.

“He was locked up there when he was 14 years old, and he is now 32 years old. He could not recognise anybody. He had lost his sanity, but we still recognised him. He had become mentally unstable. He was not conscious of his state of mind, and he could not respond properly to the questions we asked him.

Asked if his brother was having any form of ailment before he went missing, he said:

“My brother was very normal and agile. There was nothing wrong with him before his disappearance. He was a very healthy and strong boy, but when he got to prison as a little child of 14 years, we did not know what they did to him. He has now become mentally ill. We do not know what happened to him for him to become unstable.”

Asked how his brother was released, he said: “After meeting him at the correctional centre and following the efforts of the lawyers, the Chief Judge of Rivers State granted him a pardon, and he was released to us.

“He was among those the Chief Judge granted clemency, and he was released after spending 18 years in prison. We celebrated his release. We were very happy because we thought we had lost him forever.”

On how his brother’s health is now, he said: “Since his release, we have been taking care of him with the help of the lawyer, Cyrus Onu, who helped secure his freedom. He and his colleagues have been assisting us with his medical bills.

“We are trying to help him regain his sanity, but the improvement has been slow. However, his health is far different from what it used to be. They conducted almost 50 tests on him at the hospital. We spent a lot of money.

“They discovered that he was okay in other areas apart from his mental condition. He is now living with me. We are just praying that God heals him, restores his sanity, and helps us get justice for what happened to him,” he added.