COMMUNITY LEADERS have called for more media attention to be brought to the case of a black teenage girl that has been missing for over a week. 

Mariama Kallon, 13, was last seen in East Street, Walworth on Thursday 9 February after leaving her home in Southwark.

The teenager had attended school in Bermondsey, but failed to return home and was reported missing the same day.

Southwark and Lambeth police posted a public appeal to find the missing teenager five days after her disappearance and recently updated that the missing girl had been spotted twice since vanishing.

However, community members have slammed the lack of mainstream coverage given to the case of Mariama, while the missing person case of Nicola Bulley has dominated the news with regular updates from the police.

The 45-year-old went missing while walking her dog in Lancashire three weeks ago. 

Ngozi Fulani, the Chief Executive of Sistah Space, told The Voice that it is often left up to community members to galvanise attention when black people go missing.

“A 13 year old black girl, a child, has been missing for over a week, it receives the tiniest fraction of attention from very few media outlets. Contrast this with a white woman, sadly she too is missing, however this is constantly covered in detail by every news outlet. This is the source of a cocktail of problems rooted in racism.”

Ms Fulani went on to say that cases of black women including Blessings Olusegun who was found dead on a beach in 2020 didn’t receive the same urgency from the media or the police.

The recent case of student nurse Owami Davies, 25, who was missing for over a month until community leaders and social media users brought national attention to the case. 

Ms Fulani added: “We have had many cases of black women and children going missing and it is often left to black online groups and  individuals to raise the alarm.

“Race is the most important element in the UK when a woman or child is deemed to be missing or at risk. We know this because if the missing child was white, the amount of organised groups and media coverage that would be covering her disappearance, would be a story in itself. We are not surprised. History has shown this to be the accepted norm.”

Mariama was spotted for the first time on the morning of Friday 10 February in Markham Street, Southwark wearing a black top and blue trousers.

She was seen again for the second time on Monday 13 February in Riddons Road, Lewisham and had on a black top, pink trousers and a heavy scarf.

Police have said that Marima has gone missing before and has stayed away from home overnight, but still turned up to school the next day. 

However, on the day she went missing her school was not open the next day (10 February) and school pupils are now on half term. 

Dominic Norton, founder of Missing Black People, believes that though nuisance is important in every missing person case, he says the community members need to work together to draw more attention when black people vanish.

He said: “It is disappointing but not surprising to see the allocation of resources in police forces and discrepancy in media coverage from mainstream outlets.

“My call to action is for community members to share the appeals and create videos supporting campaigns to bring awareness to missing black people across the UK.”

A statement from the Met said that missing person cases are one of their most complex areas of policing and teams throughout every borough use information to carry out unbiased risk assessments.

They said this determines the best approach to finding a missing person, including when and whether to use public appeals in their search. 

“Releasing images of missing children as part of an appeal is not a decision that is taken lightly. Public appeals can leave a lasting digital trail and can have a significant impact on those whose image and information is put into the public domain.

“Decisions are taken after careful consideration and discussions with family members or guardians as appropriate. Wherever possible we like to have the agreement of the family but can, when the circumstances require, proceed with appeals on senior officer authority alone,” the statement continued. 

It added: “In the age of social media where people are used to seeing news and updates in real time, the absence of proactive appeals has sometimes been misinterpreted as a lack of police activity, particularly when one case is compared to another, unrelated case. In reality, this is more likely to be a reflection of the fact that each case is different and requires its own approach.

Even in cases without significant publicity, the public can be reassured that work will be going on behind the scenes to find the missing person and bring them home safely.”

Police have urged anyone who sees Mairama to call 999 immediately.

Anyone with other information about her whereabouts should call 101, giving the reference 5645/13FEB.Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers, anonymously, by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org