A local
government worker, Mercy Oluwafeyibunmi, has been arrested by the police and
detained at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department
(Annex),
Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
It was
gathered that the woman, who had been in detention for two weeks, had also been
admitted to the police clinic at Alagbon after falling ill.
PUNCH Metro
gathered that the offence of the mother of three was that she bore the same
middle name, Adetokunbo, with one Eileen, a Nigerian based in the United
Kingdom.
Our
correspondent gathered that Eileen sent a representative to an Ondo State High
Court, who swore to an affidavit, claiming that Mercy’s middle name was
“imposive.”
Mercy, 35,
was subsequently arrested and detained at the Force CIID Annex, Alagbon, since
July 7.
Investigations
by PUNCH Metro, however, revealed that Mercy and Eileen’s differences were
beyond a middle name.
The two
women’s ex-lover, Bankole Ogunnowo, who is based in the UK, was at the centre
of the conflict.
Our
correspondent gathered that Bankole and Mercy had a brief relationship in
Nigeria in 2006, which produced a baby girl, named Damilola.
Bankole
later married Eileen and they both relocated to London, UK, where they also had
a child together before they broke up.
Eileen,
while allegedly seeking sole custody of their child, told a London court that
her estranged husband was not to be trusted with children because he performed
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on Damilola, the child he had with Mercy.
Mercy, who
got wind of the allegation, deposed to an affidavit, dated November 27, 2015,
clearing Bankole of the charges.
In the
affidavit, which revealed her name as Mercy Adetokunbo Oluwafeyibunmi, she
stated that FGM was also a criminal offence in Nigeria.
However, one
Oyebo, who acted for Eileen, swore to a counter-affidavit before an Ondo State
High Court, accusing Mercy of stealing Eileen’s name.
Bankole told
PUNCH Metro that the accusation was the
beginning of Mercy’s ordeal.
He said,
“Eileen denied me access to the child she had for me in the UK. I went to court
so I could take my child out once in a while despite our separation. But she
told the court that I belonged to a gang in Nigeria called OPC, and that we
kidnap children to do FGM for them.
“She said I did
that for the daughter that Mercy had for me in Nigeria. It became a concern to
the UK authorities because I also work with children here (UK). I contacted
Mercy and asked if I did that for my child and she said no. I asked her to
swear to an affidavit, which she did. The affidavit was sent to London.
“Eileen
alleged that Mercy stole one of her names in order to bring my daughter,
Damilola, to the UK.”
PUNCH Metro
learnt that the counter-affidavit by Oyebo was given to the Commissioner of
Police in charge of Interpol, CP Olushola Subair.
The
commissioner was reported to have written the London court, saying Bankole and Mercy were being investigated.
After
Bankole won the court case against this ex-wife in February 2017, some
individuals were alleged to have threatened Mercy for her role in the matter.
The woman
allegedly got a Federal High Court’s injunction forbidding any harassment.
However,
despite the injunction, she was arrested and taken to the FCIID, Alagbon.
Mercy’s
husband in Nigeria, Nicholas Oluwafeyibunmi, with whom she had two children in
Akure, lamented that his wife was being harassed for the assistance she
rendered to Bankole.
He said, “On
the day she was arrested, she wanted to pick our child at school. A man called
my wife that he wanted to see her at a place.
“When the
call became intense, I decided to follow her, together with another friend. The
caller brought out the Whatsapp picture of my wife and asked if she was the
one. We didn’t know he had called the police.
“Suddenly,
some policemen from the Ondo State Police Command came in and took her to the
Yaba Police Division. They later sent a signal to those at Alagbon, Lagos, who
came to take her away. Since then, she had been held incommunicado. I don’t
know why they picked my wife. She did not commit any crime.”
Mercy, who
spoke with our correspondent on the telephone on Monday, said she had been
admitted to the police clinic after she fell ill.
She said,
“They said my crime was that somebody in the UK, who I did not know, said I
stole one of her names. My name is Mercy, Joy, Adetokunbo. Why will steal her
name?”
Mercy’s
mother, Gbonjubola, said Adetokunbo was among Mercy’s names.
She said,
“When I gave birth to her, I named her Anu, Joy. She had up to 10 names given
by different relatives. Her father, who was away, came back and gave her
Adetokunbo. For the past two weeks, I don’t know where my daughter is. Please
help us.”
Eileen’s
father, Jimi Odumosu, did not pick his calls when our correspondent called him
on Monday.
However, in
a recorded conversation he had with Bankole, which was obtained by PUNCH Metro,
Odumosu urged a peaceful resolution of the matter, saying he was separated from
Eileen’s mother and he was not sure if she (Eileen) would listen to him.
The Deputy
Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCIID, Alagbon, Mr. Abutu Yaro,
confirmed that the suspect was in custody.
He, however,
said he did not know the details of the case.
He said,
“That case was investigated by Interpol Lagos and was sent to Interpol Abuja.
The Interpol Abuja then wrote a note on the case file that the police lawyer
attached to General Investigation, FCIID, should take the matter to court. So,
I don’t know about the case. It is not our case. The lawyer that they asked to
prosecute the case is the lawyer attached to my office, but I don’t know the
offence. I don’t know anything about the court process.”
Eileen did
not pick her calls as her phone rang out severally, while a text message sent
to her line had yet to be responded to as of press time.
The Force
Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, had also yet to respond to a text
message from PUNCH Metro.
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