Princewill
Njoku, a Lagos-based banker, has accused his father-in-law, Chief
Godwin Osochukwu, of abducting his son, Kayomikun, adding that the
69-year-old community leader renamed his child.
According
to Punch Metro, Princewill noted that petitions sent to the Lagos State
Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, the Lagos State Police Command, the
National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other
related matters, and the National Human Rights Commission, had not
received attention.
However,
Osochukwu, explained that he did not abduct the child, saying the
39-year-old did not marry his daughter in accordance with tradition.
He
noted that he changed the child’s name from Kayomikun, which is Yoruba
name, because the two families had no ancestral link to Yoruba.
Princewill,
who hails from Umuokwaraku Umudiagba Abajah, in the Nwangele Local
Government Area of Imo State, however, told Punch Metro that he lawfully
married his late wife, Favour Njoku.
He said, “I
met my wife Favour, sometime in June 2014 and by May 31, 2015, we had
our traditional marriage in her father’s compound in Umuokwara Umucheke
Okwe in the Onuimo council area.
“I went to the village with my people and performed all the traditional rites to marry my wife in the presence of her people.
“On
September 2, 2015, my wife was admitted to a maternal and child centre
at FESTAC Town for bed rest. But when we got there, she was diagnosed
with severe pre-eclampsia and we were advised by a doctor that she would
have to deliver through a caesarean section that night.
“The
pregnancy was only seven months old then. I called her father and he
spoke with the doctor and gave the go ahead with the operation. I also
called my wife’s elder brothers to notify them.”
He
said after signing the operation consent form in the presence of
another relative, his wife was delivered of a baby boy, who was named
Kayomikun, Chimdinso, Destiny, Sunday, Patrick, Njoku.
However, the wife died the following day.
He said an autopsy report showed that Favour died from the medical problem earlier diagnosed by the hospital.
Princewill said he left the baby in the care of the maternal grandmother.
However,
on December 27, 2015, he said when he went to pick the child for a
thanksgiving service at his church, his father-in-law refused to release
the child.
“On
December 30, my father in-law and some other relatives pushed my
sister, Charity Njoku, out of their house and took away my son from my
sister staying with my mother-in-law,” he added.
Punch
Metro learnt that on January 16, 2016, Osochukwu reported a case
against Princewill at the Agboju Police Station, Lagos State, alleging
that he never married his late daughter.
Princewill
was subsequently arrested and arraigned in an Apapa Magistrate’s Court,
where the banker allegedly discovered that his father-in-law had
changed his son’s name from Kayomikun, Chimdinso, Destiny, Sunday,
Patrick, Njoku, to Samuel, Ndidi, Destiny, Osochukwu.
Osochukwu allegedly sought custody of the baby.
The
magistrate was said to have asked that the child be brought to court,
which the father-in-law agreed to, before later asking for out-of-court
settlement.
The
magistrate reportedly ordered that the baby should be taken to a
welfare centre every Monday in order to get acquainted with the father.
“The
relatives brought my son two times and disappeared. Instead of my
father in-law to organise the peace meeting he requested, he went to the
police at Zone 9 and lied against me.
“I
reported the incident to the magistrate in Lagos, who demanded that he
should produce my son since May 2016, but he refused. It was at this
instance that the magistrate issued a bench warrant on him.
“The
magistrate, fearing for the safety of my son, requested that we
officially report a case of kidnap and abduction to the Commissioner of
Police at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, which we did. But the
officers at X-Squad, Ikeja, have refused to arrest the man,” he said.
Osochukwu, however, denied abducting the child, saying Princewill was lying.
He said, “He
has not married my daughter. In Igboland, if you don’t marry someone
completely when he is alive, you will complete it when the person dies.
So, he should do the right thing.
“He
has not paid the dowry or completed the traditional marriage. We are
both from Imo State, but he has refused to allow elders to mediate.
“He
is saying I kidnapped the child. How? The law must take its course
traditionally. The police have told him there is nothing like kidnapping
in this case. This is a child that was brought out from my daughter’s
womb and the child was born at seven months. He has been in my care ever
since and we have been giving him all kinds of medication to ensure
that he survives.”
Osochukwu,
who confirmed that he had reported the case at the Zone 9 Police
Command, said he withdrew the case he instituted against Princewill at
the Lagos Magistrate’s Court after a disagreement with the magistrate.
The
69-year-old, who claimed not to be aware when his daughter was operated
upon, said he had been taking the child to the court until he was
ordered to take the child to a welfare centre.
“I
said over my dead body. I told the magistrate that I would not allow
that. She gave the order on Thursday and by Friday, we got a stay of
execution from a high court.
“I
am the claimant in the case. After I agreed to settle out of court, I
asked my lawyer to withdraw the case, but he refused. I changed the
lawyer and asked the new one to withdraw the matter. But the magistrate
refused the application. That was when I concluded that I was no longer
safe and stopped going to the court.
“The
names the boy is answering to now are the names my daughter gave him
before she died. The name I added was that of my daughter, just to
remember her,” he said.
Punch
Metro reports that the parties would be meeting at the office of the
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Fatai Owoseni, on Wednesday
(today).
The
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole,
said he would get back to our correspondent, but had yet to do so as of
press time.
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