Officials from the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA Brigade) have reunited a missing 17-year-old boy, Sunday Aniwachukwu, with his family after finding him near the Bridgehead area in Onitsha.

The teenager, a native of Ikerefi-Igbanocha community in Enugu State's Nkanu East LGA, had reportedly left home days earlier before being discovered wandering barefoot near the River Niger Bridge on Tuesday.

OCHA Brigade's Onitsha Unit Coordinator, Ejike Odife, formally handed over the disoriented youth to his relieved family during a brief ceremony at the agency's offices on Friday.

"Our patrol team noticed the boy in distress near the bridge approach and immediately took him into protective custody," Odife explained, noting the successful reunion was made possible through coordinated efforts with Enugu State contacts.

The commercial city's sanitation officers regularly encounter missing persons cases while conducting their environmental protection duties across Anambra's busiest urban center.

“During interrogation, it was discovered that he had been missing from his location in Enugu and was wandering around the bridge. The boy was taken into custody for safety because of his abnormal display. His relatives were contacted, and they arrived on Wednesday, and now we are handing the boy over to them.”

In an emotional reunion, Monica Aniwachukwu revealed her son had escaped from St. Michael Spiritual Church in Ikerefi-Igbanoacha, Enugu State, where he was receiving treatment for a mental health condition that first manifested in November 2024 while the family lived in Ondo State.

"Words can't express my gratitude to OCHA Brigade," the tearful mother stated during the handover. "When Sunday disappeared from the treatment center, we feared the worst. Finding him safe is a miracle."