Manchester: Dad of missing boys makes plea for help

Thursday, November 10, 2011 A devastated dad claims a wall of silence in Manchester’s Somali community is stopping police finding his two children snatched from the family home.Abdul Abubakar’s sons Khalid, six, and Ahmed, four, went missing from their Withington home with their mother Anisa Ibrahim.

An international manhunt has now been launched in a bid to track the children – who have been allegedly abducted by their mother. Abdul, 45, thinks that friends and relatives of Anisa, his ex-wife, paid for her to leave the country and are now refusing to tell police where she is. Police have put out a fresh appeal for information in an attempt to find the two children, who vanished in April last year. Abdul and Anisa, both originally from Somalia, met in Manchester and were married in 2004 – only to get divorced in 2007.

The children were at the centre of a three-year court battle over access. Abdul was granted access to his son by the family courts in late 2009. By leaving Manchester with the two children without consulting Abdul, Anisa, 31, breached a family court order – prompting the international manhunt after Abdul raised the alarm.

Following an international investigation involving Interpol, the police and social services from page 1 in Europe, the US and Canada, GMP learned that Anisa, Khalid and Ahmed left Manchester on a coach bound for Amsterdam on April 9, 2010 – and flew from Amsterdam to Toronto, in Canada, later that month.

Abdul told the Reporter: “People in the Somali community with ties to Anisa, who are distant relatives of hers, helped fund her trip to Amsterdam and then to Toronto.”I am sure they know where she is now and have regular contact with her, and are keeping her up to date with what is happening over here.”

But Abdul – who is unemployed and now lives in Hulme – said they were refusing to tell the police the whereabouts of his two sons.Abdul said Anisa had repeatedly threatened to take the two boys back to Somalia – which has no functioning government and is widely thought to be one of the most dangerous countries on earth.

He added: “I was devastated because I did not know where my children were for months after they disappeared, and I was worried sick about them.” Officers were given a tip off at the end of last year by police in Canada that Anisa and her two sons had flown into Toronto in April. It is believed that she may be being sheltered by members of the Somali Diaspora in Canada or the USA.

Detective Inspector Kevin Marriott, the police officer leading the enquiry, appealed for members of the Somali community in Manchester to come forward. He said: “We are still unaware exactly where Anisa and the children are. We have spent hundreds of hours working on this case, and have taken to the decision now to release further details in an attempt to progress and proceed with the case.”

Anyone with information call CID on +44161 856 6104       or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on +44800 555 111

The South Manchester Reporter
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