A
Lagos-based banker, Princewill Njoku has accused his father-in-law, Chief
Godwin Osochukwu of abducting his son, Kayomikun, and that the 69-year-old
community
leader renamed his child.
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,
Chief Osochukwu, explained that he did not abduct the child, saying the
39-year-old did not marry his daughter in full compliance 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 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 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.
The
correspondent was told that the parties would be meeting at the office of the
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Fatai Owoseni, on Wednesday (today).
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