Gboyega Odubanjo missing: Family of London poet worried for his safety

Police have launched an appeal for an award-winning poet who failed to appear for a reading at a festival at the weekend.

Gboyega Odubanjo, 27, was last seen in the early hours Saturday morning at Shambala festival in Northamptonshire, where he had been due to perform later that morning.

The “loving and caring” creative’s family said his disappearance was entirely out of character and he was said to have been in “a good mood and excited for the festival”.

In a joint statement, Mr Odubanjo’s relatives said: “We appeal to you today with heavy hearts and profound concern, to help us find our beloved son and brother Gboyega.

“Gboyega is a loving and caring son who means the world to our family. He is currently studying for his PhD in creative writing at University of Hertfordshire. He has a warm and infectious personality, a contagious smile, and a heart full of kindness.

“We believe that Gboyega’s disappearance is entirely out of character for him, and we are genuinely worried for his safety and wellbeing. We are reaching out to the community, friends, and all compassionate individuals who may have any information that could lead to his safe return.”

”No piece of information is too small, and your help could be the key to bringing him back to us,” they added.

According to Northampton Police, Mr Odubanjo was last seen in the Kelmarsh area of Northamptonshire at around 4am on Saturday.

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Hailing from Dagenham, he is 5ft 6in tall, with short black dreadlocks and a beard.

He wears glasses and was last seen wearing a beige or cream bucket hat, a red and white striped gilet with black clothing underneath, black trousers and dark-coloured shoes.

Appealing for help to find the poet, his best friend, novelist and filmmaker Tice Cin, said. “He is the light of my life. We need help bringing him home, nobody deserves to go missing in a society with all the resources to find our loved ones.”

“Help us to find this brilliant kind man, the type of man who you can ring at 3 am when your back is hurting and you can’t sleep. His future is so bright and we must rally together to bring him back to where he is loved and safe.”

Mr. Odubanjo is well-known on the UK poetry scene and his pamphlet, Aunty Uncle Poems, about culture and family relationships in London, won the Poetry Business New Poets prize in 2020. He has also received an Eric Gregory award from the Society of Authors and a Michael Marks pamphlet prize.

An editor at Bad Betty Press and the poetry publication Bath Magg, his forthcoming collection, Adam, explores structural inequality when it comes to searching for missing Black people in the UK.

The anthology is inspired by the unsolved murder of “Adam”, an unidentified boy whose body was discovered in the River Thames in 2001.

Anyone who thinks they have seen Mr Odubanjo is encouraged to Northamptonshire Police on 999.

Information and previous sightings can also be reported by calling 101, quoting reference number MPD1/2619/23.