RELIEVED: Norhayati hugging Mohamad Izzat after he returned home. — Bernama photo
JOHOR BAHARU: A teenager, earlier believed to be missing after visiting the ‘mysterious’ Villa Nabila in Jalan Skudai, near Danga Bay, was found to be safe at a house in Taman Desa Mutiara, here, late Monday night.
Johor police chief, Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said Mohamad Izzat Izzudin Husin, 16, was found around midnight at his friend’s house by an ‘Ops Kesan’ police team formed soon after the teenager was reported missing by his mother.
“The teenager was then brought to the police station to have his statement recorded before he was handed over to his family,” he told reporters at the state police contingent headquarters, here, yesterday.
Following the discovery of the teenager, he said, police urged all quarters to stop spreading ludicrous stories through the social websites about people gone missing when visiting the old, abandoned house.
He said the unethical dissemination of such false information had caused inconvenience to many parties and created acute traffic congestion along Jalan Skudai when people crowded in front of the house out of curiosity.
“I confirm that police have so far received only one report on a missing person (after visiting Villa Nabila), so stop spreading nonsense about the house,” he added.
Mohamad Izzat Izzudin, when met at his house in Kampung Hajah Hasnah, Majidee, said he and 29 friends visited Villa Nabila on Saturday just for fun and were there for 15 minutes.
He said there were no strange things or hysteria happening there, as claimed by Netizens through the social websites, although it was his third visit to the empty house.
“We left the place through the backlane and ate at a fast food outlet nearby before going to a mosque to sleep and do our Subuh prayers.
“I then went to Dataran Bandar Raya Johor Baharu and to the city centre before going to a friend’s house in Taman Desa Mutiara about noon on Sunday,” said the teenager who was awakened from sleep by his friend about midnight when police came looking for him.
His mother, Norhayati Mohamad, 38, said she was relieved that her son had been found and thanked the authorities and members of the public for assisting in locating her son.
Villa Nabila is believed to have been built 40 years ago and frequently linked to mysterious happenings until it attracted public interest including foreigners, especially those studying about the paranormal.
Meanwhile, the state government will look at the status of Villa Nabila before taking any action on the abandoned property.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the matter needed to be referred to the Johor Baharu City Council to determine the villa’s status before taking any action.
He was met after opening the 46th Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlement (EAROPH) Regional Congress, here, yesterday. — Bernama